


Verisimilitude of a Dream

by viaticalsauce



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: F/M, M/M, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Peter Parker Has Anxiety
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-02
Updated: 2019-10-08
Packaged: 2020-06-02 19:28:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 19,746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19448032
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/viaticalsauce/pseuds/viaticalsauce
Summary: “Are you okay?” said someone standing next to him. He took the offered hand and stood up into the most beautiful brown eyes.





	1. Harley 1

Harley was walking down a street when he saw it. The mailbox. This was an ordinary mailbox, except for one thing: it was moving. Said red and blue mailbox was moving. Hmm. Harley walked closer to it and tripped. He was getting up from the ground when he first heard it. The Laugh. That laugh gave Harley butterflies. It was male, and a little higher-pitched than Harley’s own. It was sunshine moving through a grassy field. It was water trickling down a creek. It was the comforting hum of background chatter at a picnic. 

“Are you okay?” said someone standing next to him. He took the offered hand and stood up into the most beautiful brown eyes. 

Harley woke up.

Dammit. Just a dream. As he sat there in his morning wake-up mental fog, he tried to commit his dream to memory. Harley never dreams. Well, he dreams, but he never remembers them. He can recall mornings right after waking up, trying to do what he’s doing right now, but it's never panned out. He's never been able to carry a dream into his fully-awake hours. 

Even now, Harley can feel the dream slipping through his figurative fingers. He sighs, and looks at the clock. 6:36 AM. Still a few more hours until he has to get ready for the day, but Harley knows he won’t be able to go back to sleep. Resigned to this, he gets up, puts on some pants, and walks out into the hallway. 

This is Harley’s first morning at the Avengers’ tower. Tony gave him his own room, on his own floor. Well it technically wasn’t his floor, it was a shared floor for “all the underprivileged youth that I can’t get rid of” Tony had said, smirking. Harley wasn’t sure who else these “youths” were, as he has yet to see one. Then again, he did just get here yesterday. Tony had pulled a few strings and gotten him an interview with the Midtown School for Science’s scholarship board. Harley had won them over on his own merit, but having a letter of recommendation from THE Tony Stark definitely didn’t hurt. So now Harley was doing his senior year of high school at Midtown. Both he and Tony already knew he could get any job he wanted at Stark Industries, but “everyone has to finish school, sport.” Harley had rolled his eyes at that. Tony loved trying out new kiddie names on him, conveniently forgetting that Harley was: a) 17 years old, and: b) 6 foot 2. 

There was a kitchenette (although that was putting it lightly, this IS Tony’s building, after all) on the floor, but Harley walked upstairs to the bigger kitchen on Pepper and Tony’s floor. He could have taken one of about 18 elevators up a level, but Harley liked taking the stairs. Not because he needed the exercise - although not too defined, he was still lean and athletic. No, Harley liked the stairs because there usually weren’t other people around. Harley’s general personality (at least, the one he showed to people) was a bright-eyed, polite jokester. That personality (that Harley really self-imposed) used took a lot of energy out of him, so he took every opportunity to get a second to himself, where he didn’t have to be “on.” Stairs, empty hallways, his bedroom. God he loved his bed. That hour or so after he was “going to bed,” but before he actually fell asleep. After he’d set his phone down and turn off his reading lamp. Nothing but the sound of the fan on his desk, and the noises of his house (well, tower now) surrounding him. On the nights when his mind isn’t racing, it’s his favorite time of day. As much as he loves his family and friends, he’s still an introvert, and loves his time alone.

Harley exited the stairs to see Tony making a smoothie. Scarlet Witch (Wanda, Harley said to himself) was sitting at a table drinking some coffee. 

“You’re up early, bud,” Tony observed. 

“Yeah, couldn’t sleep,” Harley mumbled into his cereal, “had a b--dream.”

“A budream? What’s that?” Tony joked, “FRIDAY?”

“Yes Boss?” FRIDAY said from seemingly nowhere.

Tony grinned at Harley, “what’s a buh-dream?”

“Do you mean the Boston University Dream Program?” FRIDAY answered.

Harley rolled his eyes, “That’s gotta be it.”

Tony put his elbows on the counter and tilted his head to the side, basic white girl style. 

“Aren’t you like, SO excited to go to like, SCHOOL today?” Tony gushed.

_Time to be Harley._ Harley took a deep breath.

“Like, TOTALLY Tony. SO ready to not know anyone in the big city.”

“Um, false. First, you know _moi._ Second, soon you’ll know my intern. He goes to Midtown with you,” Tony said.

“And you won’t tell me his name because…”

“Because I want it to be a surprise. Mwa-haha.”

“Did you actually just say ‘Mwa-haha?’”

“I did. Now go get ready for school.”  
An hour later Harley was dressed and showered, and in the car with Happy on his way over to Queens. He was trying to make conversation with Happy, who was infamous for his silent driving. 

“Will I get to meet Spider-man?” Harley pestered.

Happy rolled his eyes and made eye contact with Harley in the rearview mirror. He sighed and said, “You’re living at the Avengers tower. So while you’ll definitely meet some of the Avengers, you might not see Spider-Man anytime soon. He doesn’t visit very often.”

“Oh,” said Harley. _Maybe I’ll just have to go looking for him._

Harley was walking out of the school office with his class schedule when he almost ran into a kid who was snickering at someone dropping their books. The boy turned around and glared at Harley til he realized he didn’t know him. 

“You’re new here,” the kid said.

“Yeah-up” Harley said sardonically.

“Eugene, leave the new kid alone.” 

A girl had walked up while they were talking. The boy (Eugene, ha) glared at her and walked away. 

Harley raised his hand to shake hers, but she just stared at him so he lowered it. 

“Hi,” he said, “My name is Harley.”

“I’m Michelle. Normally I don't talk to people I don't know, but no one deserves to meet Eugene on their first day of school,” she said. They started walking down the hallway. 

“Thanks, do you know where room 2-”

“203? That’s where I’m headed. English right?”

“Yep. Thanks,” Harley said.

“I think we have an extra seat at our table, if you wanna sit with us.”

“Sure. Who’s ‘us?’”

“Ned, Peter and I,” Michelle said as they walked into the classroom. There was a boy sitting at a table in the corner who looked up when they walked in and smiled.

“Hi MJ,” the boy said, “who’s this?”

“Hey Ned, this is Harley. He ran into Eugene so I rescued him,” Michelle (MJ?) replied.

“She’s so nice to help a damsel like little ol’ me” Harley interjected with a southern falsetto.

Michelle (MJ?) cackled as they sat down. 

Harley heard someone behind him say “Wow you got MJ to laugh on your first day? It took me weeks to do that!”

Harley turned around to see…. _oh my god._


	2. Peter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After school today, he was going to the tower to meet Tony’s new… child? Tony was pretty vague on the phone, but some kid was staying at his place and also going to Peter’s school. Tony wouldn’t tell him who it was, because that’s how Tony operates. Chaotic evil.

It had been just a normal day for Peter. Well, other than it being the first day of school. He was excited to spend more time with his friends, but less excited to see Flash again. Peter, in a subconscious desire to make everyone else happy, bears the brunt of Flash's bullying, knowing that Flash could instead be picking on other kids. Not on Peter's watch. Oh well. 

After school today, he was going to the tower to meet Tony’s new… child? Tony was pretty vague on the phone, but some kid was staying at his place and also going to Peter’s school. Tony wouldn’t tell him who it was, because that’s how Tony operates. Chaotic evil. He was pretty sure the only reason lawful good things actually got done was because of Tony’s wife, Pepper Potts. Tony had actually taken her last name, but used Stark for business reasons. Peter, Ned and MJ thought Pepper was the living example of Big Dick Energy (something they’d never say to her face). 

Peter had started to get a handle on the Spider-Man thing, too. Something that Tony called “work-life balance” which, coming from Tony, was the most ironic statement this side of the Hudson. And after MJ had figured out on her own (not that Peter was great at hiding it) that he was Spider-Man, they could talk about that when they’d hang out, too. 

Almost tripping as he got off the train broke Peter out of his thoughts. He wasn’t sure how it worked, but when he was Spider-Man, he could literally fly through the streets on WEBS, but when he was just Peter Parker, he could barely keep his feet below him. He wasn’t sure why that was, maybe it was that keeping up the façade of Spider-Man kept his thoughts from overwhelming him, and, by extension, his balance. Not that Peter has dwelt on that before. It’s better than the other thoughts that would consume him if he’d let them. His fight with the Vulture, being crushed under that warehouse, losing Uncle Ben, his parents… 

Peter snapped to it when he realized he was starting to hyperventilate. He kept walking into the school, trying to get to his locker and his friends to distract him from his thoughts. The first bell rang, and Peter realized his friends were already in English. He grabbed his books from his locker and sprinted off to class, glad that the focus needed to keep his feet under him were keeping the other thoughts at bay. 

He walked into class and saw a boy with Ned and MJ, with his back to the door. He was doing some sort of impression in a falsetto when MJ started cackling. 

Peter frowned in confusion and said, “Wow you got MJ to laugh on your first day? It took me weeks to do that!” 

Boy in question turned around and… Wow. Okay, hot. HOT. Attractive. Guh. Um. Boy was saying something. 

“-orry I’m funnier than you?”

Peter blinked. “What?”

“I said that I’m sorry I’m funnier than you.”

“1 is funnier than 0, but it’s still not a 10,” Peter somehow managed to fire back.

Hot boy in question blushed slightly on his cheeks and glared at Peter. 

Ned coughed and said, “Um, Peter this is Harley. He’s… new to school. Harley, this is our friend Peter.”

Peter quickly sat down opposite (i.e. FAR away from) Harley as class got started. He saw Harley take a deep breath as he grabbed a notebook. Why did Harley look… familiar? Like he’d seen him before. Huh. Peter spent the rest of class nervously tapping his knee.

\---------------------------------------

The rest of the day went by without too much incident, bar a couple attempts on Peter’s part to talk to Harley and/or make a joke, with Harley very pointedly refusing to continue the conversation. The final bell rang and, after saying goodbye to MJ and Ned (and trying to say goodbye to Harley), he gratefully exited school and changed into his Spider-Man suit. He made his way out of Queens toward the city, which he had only started patrolling recently. He liked/hated the larger buildings, because while he scraped the ground less, when he did scrape the ground, it hurt more. 

Peter's more intrusive thoughts started to worm their way back as he was swinging. Did his aunt work so many shifts to avoid spending time with him? Did that girl he saved on Monday have a safe home to go to? Does Mr. Stark actually enjoy his company or- No! Stop it. Peter focused on his swinging. He hoped he never got tired of swinging. There was a moment at the apex of each swing, what he called "the world's whisper" (to borrow a phrase from Community). In that moment he forgot about everything stressful in his life, and just focused on the next swing. It helped center Peter's mind a lot, since the rest of his waking moments were filled with school, homework, friends, experiments, or a mix of all four. Even in sleep sometimes Peter couldn't escape the thoughts. The worst hour of any day to him was the hour after he was “going to bed,” but before he actually fell asleep. After he’d set his phone down. Nothing but the sound of the neighborhood outside, and his own thoughts surrounding him. Sometimes, in the morning, he'd wake up without remembering any of the nightmares he'd had, but his tiredness throughout the day would bear evidence to the night he'd had. Most nights, though, Peter would remember. It was frustrating. Peter could never put himself first in his waking moments, and in his sleep, his mind wouldn't let him rest. He hadn't had a good dream since It had happened. The spider bite. Since his uncle had died. Since the Vulture had collapsed that warehouse on him. Since- STOP. He was spiraling again. Well, he had had one good dream since the bite. He'd helped a boy off the ground. Literally, that was it. And although he'd remembered the dream, he hadn't remembered the face. They say that you can't create new faces in your dreams, that the faces you see are always from someone you'd met before. Peter couldn't remember the boy's face, though, so it didn't really matter.

Peter knew he was lucky, the spider hadn't killed him, it had given him these amazing powers, but Peter was selfless sometimes "to the point of martyrdom," as Pepper had put it after learning about just how often he was out in the city looking for people to help. This spider bite had only made that part of him worse.

"Peter, you'd set yourself on fire if it meant keeping another person warm," she had said.

To which he had replied, "odds are I'd survive getting burned, though." Apparently that hadn't been the correct thing to say.

He made his way to the Avenger’s tower. Peter wasn’t an Avenger (yet, he told himself), but he still liked to drop by to hang out, go over some of his projects with Mr. St-Tony. He still couldn't believe that he could offer anything new that The Tony Stark hadn't already thought of, causing some sense of insecurity in his work, and by extension, his feeling of belonging. Peter never felt he truly belonged anywhere, not with his aunt and uncle (who, at the end of the day, hadn't asked to take in their nephew), not with his friends at school (who only recently learned of his super power, and were at risk because of it), and certainly not with Tony and Pepper Potts (the wealthy power couple who didn't need a kid from Queens bothering them).

He swung up and flew in through an open window (that FRIDAY opened whenever he was close) into his bedroom. His bedroom he barely visited, because he didn't want to impose himself. His door was open, which wasn’t an issue, since everyone up here knew his real identity. He walked out of his room, about to take off his mask, when his super-hearing let him know there was someone in the room down the hall. Curious, he walked over and found HARLEY KEENER laying on his bed listening to some music with his eyes closed. Peter’s super-hearing could make out Old Town Road. Just as Peter realized he should probably leave Harley’s doorway, Harley’s eyes popped open. 

“SPIDER-MAN?” Harley squealed. Harley’s cheeks tinged pink at how his voice sounded.

There was a long pause as Peter: 1) stared at Harley’s cheeks, 2) realized he wasn’t saying anything, 3) figured out what to say. 

“Um, heh yeah! Yeah I’m Spider-Man. Here visiting.. Mr.- Tony. Visiting Tony. Sorry I didn’t realize there were other people on this floor…”

“Other people? Are you staying on this floor too?” Harley’s eyes bulged. 

“Oh um no I don’t live here, I landed in Peter’s room.” 

“Who’s Peter?” 

“Peter goes to school with you,” Spider-Man said.

“Oh, that Peter.” Harley wrinkled his nose. “I’ve met him.”

Spider-Man cocked his head. “Oh?”

“Yeah. We… just haven’t hit if off yet.” 

Harley’s cheeks were red again. Say something, Peter.

Spider-Man cleared his throat, “Oh, I’ve worked with Peter before, he can be pretty awkward at first.”

Harley rolled his eyes then said, "Wait, how did you know I know Peter?"

"Oh! Um, Peter and I… text… sometimes." He realized this could work in his favor. "Peter said he accidentally embarrassed you this morning, and he felt just awful about it."

Harley's mouth got really thin as he said, "That's super great that Peter is telling everyone that."

Deciding to just change the subject, Spider-Man said, "H-hey have you met any of the Avengers yet? I'm sensing some of them are upstairs right now."

"Trying to change the subject I see. Well it's a good thing I like you, Spider-Man." Harley jumped out of bed and walked past Peter out his door. 

Peter stammered as he followed behind Harley, "Well I mean who doesn't like the superheroes we've gotten recently, huh? Black Panther? Ant-man? All more cool than me!"

Harley called the elevator as replied, "Not as cool as you, Spider. Can I call you Spider? Spider-Man is too many syllables to keep repeating in conversation. Oh, and you forgot Thor. That man's jaw could cut me any day of the week.

The elevator opened as Spider-Man violently started wheezing from his Thor comment. It gave Harley no small amount of pleasure to know he was keeping THE Spider-Man on his toes.

Off the elevator and around a corner they see Tony sitting at the counter with a laptop. He looks up and grins.

"So, Harls you've already met Spidey-boy," he said.

Harley whipped his head around saying "SPIDEY-BOY??" 

At the same time, Spider-Man spluttered out, "Harls?!"

Harley's cheeks went pink again, and Spider-Man pressed on. "You've been giving me grief about MY name when people are calling you Harls??"

Tony interrupted, "Hey, Underoos, I'm not just 'people,' mmkay?"

Harley choked out, "Underoos?"

Tony sighed, watching Peter try to stand tall and look forward. "Glad to see you two are getting along."

Peter saw a glint enter Tony's eye (which probably was akin to when the devil entered Judas).

Tony kept his eyes on Peter as he said, "Hey, Harley, did you meet my other intern today? The one I told you about?"

Harley glanced at Spider-Man and said, “Is his name Peter?”

Tony blinked and said, “Yeah… how did you guess?”

Harley snorted and said, "He seems full of himself, so I figured he worked for you."

Tony glanced over at Spider-Man, who was nonchalantly leaning against a bar stool. To Peter's credit, he was playing the disinterested role of Spider-Man pretty well. Until Tony upped the ante.

"Huh, you must have just caught him in an off moment. I want you two to get along, he's like a son to me."

Harley scoffed, "I thought I-"

Harley was interrupted by a splintering sound. He looked over to see Spider-Man holding half of a bar stool, which had been split in half, vertically.

Peter felt himself going red under his suit. He coughed to buy himself some time, and said, "s-sorry, I sneezed?"

He saw the demonic twinkle in Tony's eyes, and tried to change the subject. "How did you meet Harley?"

Tony started to reply but Harley said, "I saved his ass back when the Mandarin was after him." 

Tony rolled his eyes. "Yeah I don't think that was it."

"Yeah-huh! And you scrubbed me from your computer records because you were too embarrassed to get saved by a kid," Harley said.

Tony started waving his arms around. "No, I kept your info under lock and key so that the media couldn't sink their teeth in!"

Harley crossed his arms and turned around. "Underoos, who do you think-" Spider-Man had wisely snuck out of the room during their argument.

Tony clapped Harley on the shoulder. "You'll get used to it, bud."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my first time writing a character with anxiety, so please forgive any inconsistencies/errors in my portrayal of Peter grounding himself. I welcome feedback, so that I can write as accurately as possible.  
> My goal is a new chapter every Tuesday! I've plotted out the story and it clocks in at around 16 switches in POV, but we'll see if that directly translates into 16 chapters or not.


	3. Harley 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter looked wide-eyed ( _and cute_ ). _Focus, Keener._

Harley couldn’t believe his luck. _My FIRST week in the tower and I've already met SPIDER-MAN!_ The guy was pretty awkward, and sounded young, ( _maybe he’s my age and we could be_ friends _okay calm down_ ) but at the same time it meant he was approachable. Even his voice sounded familiar. 

Familiar was nice to Harley, seeing as everything else in his life right now was unfamiliar. The city. God, but he loved this city. Rose Hill was not a place for a young gay to grow up. He was out to his family, and a few friends at school, but the overbearing feeling of stuffiness seeped into everything he did, and everywhere he went. Even when no one in the room knew he was gay, he still felt like he was being… judged? Maybe that wasn’t the right word. Examined? Maybe. Which is insane, because Harley _knew_ not everyone was watching everything he did- that'd be egocentric of him. It was more the constant unease of feeling like everything he did was wrong. 

New York was so different than Rose Hill. Well, Queens. Harley should probably start separating them by borough. Queens was eclectic and diverse. Nobody in his friend group batted an eye when he said he likes boys. It was refreshing. At the same time, Harley still felt like he couldn't fully breathe sometimes. Like he couldn't exhale. And he didn't help his case whenever he decided to fly off the cuff and mouth off. In those moments it felt like he was stuffing the real Harley deep down inside. Take for example this morning with Peter. He really didn't have to be an ass when Peter came into class. He didn't know why he did that. He had new friends, a new school, and he didn't have to behave like the same old smart-ass Harley. But he did. He grimaced inwardly. He was going to have to apologize to Peter for him being so cold all day.

He walked upstairs and saw Tony looking over some papers at the counter. 

“Hey, sport, now that Underoos is gone, how was your first day of school, really?” Tony asked without looking up.

Harley shrugged, “It was okay, again other than dealing with Peter, it went by quickly.”

Tony nodded, “Yeah, like I said, I’m sure you two will get along swimmingly. You just got off on the wrong foot.”

Harley rolled his eyes and said, “You’ve created sustainable nuclear fusion, but you couldn't invent a less cliche phrase than 'got off on the wrong foot?'"

"You know, it's actually a law. Once you win a Nobel, you can say as many cliches as you want," Tony retorted, looking back at his papers.

 _Okay, here goes._ "Hey Tony speaking of cliches…"

"Yeah?" Tony asked, not looking up.

"Is… is Spider-Man single?"

Tony set down his paper and looked up at Harley, the slyest look on his face. Harley had only ever seen it when Tony was about to prank Steve. Oh god.

"I think he is. Why do you ask, Harls?" Tony said his name forcefully.

Harley tried to show a dismissive air as he waved his hand around. "Oh, no reason. I simply ask for the commoners among me at school."

Tony stared at him for a good five seconds, then chuckled out a "'Kay."

Tony never really took that long to retort, which had Harley worried...

\--------------------------------

Next day at school Harley found Peter, but he was talking to MJ and Ned. Harley took a deep breath. _Time to try and apologize._

Peter was very pointedly avoiding Harley’s gaze when he asked, “Hey Peter, can I talk to you for a sec?” 

MJ started _signing_ to Peter “WHAT HE-SAYS, INFORM-ME O-K?” 

Harley signed back, “TELL-YOU MYSELF, CAN” 

MJ’s eyes got wide as Ned and she walked away quickly. Peter looked wide-eyed ( _and cute_ ). _Focus, Keener._

“My sister is hard-of-hearing,” Harley explained, “so I picked up ASL a few years ago when she started losing her hearing.”

Peter nodded slowly and said, “Got it. We got a new student last year who is Deaf, so we tried to pick up some basics.” 

“Hey Peter, I just wanted to apologize for-”

“No Harley, it’s totally my fault, I-”

They both stopped and grinned. 

Harley said, “Fine, apology accepted, for both of us.”

They were walking for a minute when Peter said, “Today’s my lab day at Stark Industries! Would you like to meet Mr. Stark?”

“Well actually, I LIVE at the tower.” 

“Whaaat? You know Mr. Stark?!” 

_Huh. That seemed a little over-the-top._ “Yeah, and I met Spider-Man yesterday!”

“Oh? That’s nice. W-what did you think of him?” 

“Eh.”

Peter stumbled a little bit. “Why ‘eh?’”

“He was okay. Seemed really awkward. He broke a stool.” A thought entered Harley’s head. “And it was Pepper’s favorite stool.”

“Oh. Huh. It probably was an accident.” Peter said, in a higher voice than before.

“Oh, I hope so. The last time someone at SI got on Pepper’s bad side, they weren’t heard from again.”

Peter started to stammer something, but they had arrived at class. They sat down by MJ and Ned, and Harley could feel Ned’s grin through the back of his head. 

During a break in class, Harley turned around, eyes wide, saying, “You guys I’ve met SPIDER-MAN!”

Harley noticed MJ and Peter glancing at each other as Ned half-heartedly exclaimed, “Cool!”

“...Have y’all already met Spider-Man? I expected Peter to, but…” _Idiot, Harley. Of course they’ve all met him. I’m geeking out about someone they probably have in a group chat._

MJ recovered first and said, “Well, yes we’ve met him, but he’s not really that cool, to be honest.”

Harley noticed Peter’s hand shakily reaching for his water bottle as he said, “He sure seemed awkward yesterday. But like a cute-awkward.”

Harley felt some water on his arm as he heard Peter choking on and partially spitting the water out of his mouth. 

Peter’s voice rose an octave as he asked, “y-you think Spider-Man is cute?”

Ned side-eyed Peter as he said, “You haven’t even seen his face though.”

Harley nodded, saying, “Yes, but he was a total dork yesterday at the tower. He kept starting to say ‘Mr. Stark,’ then correcting himself and saying Tony. Supes cute.”

Peter was getting red in the face next to Harley. _Maybe Peter likes Spider-Man too??_

MJ looked at Harley and said, “Just wait til you see under the mask. Total heartbreaker.”

Harley’s eyes grew big again as he asked, “You know who Spider-Man really is??”

MJ rolled her eyes, saying, “Say it a little louder next time Harls, there were some peeps in the Bronx that didn’t hear you.”

Harley felt himself blush, and saw Peter staring at him from the corner of his eye. He glanced over quickly and saw Peter’s mouth open with a dazed look on his face. Peter quickly recovered and looked back at his notebook.

\--------------------------------

Later in the day, Harley was walking back from the bathroom when he heard two voices he recognized. In true cartoon fashion, his legs almost came out from under him as he stopped at the corner when he recognized Peter saying “But Ned, Mr.-Tony-” _Wait. where have I heard that exact phrase bef-OH MY GOD. OH MY GOD. IS. IS. IS PETER SPIDER-MAN? No. NO._

Harley quickly rounded the corner to see Ned and Peter at their lockers. Ned and Peter turned to look at Harley expectantly. It was then that Harley realized he was just standing there saying nothing. 

“Uhhh hi guys! I-I was just wondering. Do you think Spider-Man is light enough to stick to those white ceiling tiles in an office building?”

Ned glanced at Peter before answering ( _That doesn’t mean anything, Harley_ ), “Good question! I’m not sure of Spider-Man’s weight, but I’m sure he’d stick to the tiles themselves. Peter, you should ask him next time you are both at the lab.”

Peter shifted his weight ( _nervously?_ ) and said “Huh, yeah, next, next time I see him I’ll ask him.”

An idea came to Harley’s mind: ”Nevermind, I just realized something. I can find files on Spider-Man at the tower. His weight should be in there.” 

They started walking to their next class as Ned asked, “Would that information be open access? I feel like Mr. Stark would have that behind some sort of firewall.”

Harley smirked as he kept pace with Peter. Peter was walking kind of fast. “Yeah, but there isn’t a code from the old man that I haven’t been able to crack.” 

In class there’s a lull, and Ned turned around and whispered, “Peter are you going on patrol tonight?”

Harley overhears ( _perfect_ ) and asks, “Patrol? Are you a part of some neighbor watch?”

Peter smacks Ned in the side before he answers, “Y-yeah, my aunt May signed me up for it.”

Harley smiled as a plan began to form. “Cool. Can I join?”


	4. Peter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A minute later Harley heard it too. “You said you had sensitive hearing, but I didn’t realize you had _super_ hearing.”
> 
> Peter felt his eyes growing wide. “Ha! Ha Harley good joke...”

The first thing Peter had done that afternoon at school was smack Ned upside the head ( _not too hard, because super powers_ ) once Harley left for his next class. What was Ned thinking? First with the "when you are both in the lab" bullshit, then by forgetting that Harley DOESNT KNOW HE'S SPIDER-MAN and talking about patrolling. 

AND NOW Peter is going patrolling with Harley. Because Harley asked him to join. And Peter apparently can't say no to Harley's devilish smirk. Even if Peter hadn't connected the dots he still would have guessed that Harley knew Mr. Stark. They both were on the chaotic end of the alignment chart. Dear god. 

Peter left his and May's apartment, backpack on, with his suit inside ( _just in case_ ). Harley was going to meet him in his part of Queens, and they were going to… walk(?) around for awhile. Peter sat down on a bench and a few minutes later Happy pulled up. Harley got out of the back seat and said goodbye to Happy.

Happy rolled down the front window, rolled his eyes at Peter, and said “Have fun you two.”

They started walking up 43rd street. Peter glanced over at Harley, who was looking around at all the sights, sounds, and (Peter wrinkled his nose) smells of the area. Harley's eyes were wide, and he had a slight grin on his face. His expression reminded Peter of a child seeing the Magic Kingdom at Disney World for the first time. 

"You're from Tennessee, right?" Peter inquired. Harley looked down at Peter, a bored look quickly ( _interesting_ ) covering his face. 

"Yeah-up, Rose Hill. Pretty small town in a flyover state.”

“What’s a flyover state?”

Harley raised his eyebrows. “A flyover state is one of those states that no one intentionally visits. People only ‘flyover’ it. And except for Nashville I don’t think there’s anything touristy about Tennessee.”

“Oh. Huh. I guess New York isn’t a flyover state then.”

“Yeah, no. I’ve never been here before but I can’t imagine ever getting bored. What do you do for fun around here?”

Peter thought for a minute. _Nothing Spider-Man related, Peter._ “Well, I like working in the lab, doing my homework, practicing for decathlon..” Peter noticed Harley staring at him.

Harley shook his head and said, “No, Peter. Things you do for FUN. Not responsibilities.”

Peter replied, “Responsibilities ARE fun.”

Harley cackled. “ No, you can trick your mind into thinking something is fun, but that doesn’t mean you actually ENJOY it on its own.”

“Semantics.”

“Semantics is all about meaning,” Harley said, “and you know what I mean with both ‘fun’ and ‘enjoyment.’”

They walked in silence for a minute, then Peter said, "I… I enjoy talking with the different Avengers at the tower. The more profound things they do, like save lives, or the simpler things, like swinging through the city." Peter noticed he was coasting his hands up ( _I’m Spider-Man STOP moving your hands_ ) and quickly put them down.

“Oh? Which Avenger can swing from buildings?

“Spider-Man.”

“Is Spider-Man an Avenger? And don’t say it’s semantics.”

Peter takes a deep breath and pinches the bridge of his nose. “No, I guess you’re right. Spider-Man _isn’t_ an Avenger.”

Harley grabbed his phone and said, “Can you say that again, into the camera this time? ‘Harley was right…?’”

Peter rolled his eyes as they walked over the rail way into Astoria.

Harley seemed focused on this idea of fun. "Peter what do you, yourself, do for enjoyment? Nothing that is a means to help other people, or a responsibility, or hearing stories of what other people do for enjoyment, what do YOU do for fun."

_Hmm. So even if Harley knew I was Spider-Man, technically I couldn’t answer with any of that. The whole idea of Spider-Man is predicated on helping others._

Peter lit up as an idea came to him. “I read this book series once. _The Keys to the Kingdom,_ by Garth Nix. It was really odd, but fun to read. I… I liked that the main character Arthur had a big family, even though his birth parents had died. Arthur gets these amazing powers, and uses them to save the world.”

Peter noticed Harley rolling his eyes.

"What?" Peter asked, slightly hurt. 

"While I'm sure that is an amazing book series, you literally most relate with the main character's super hero complex. You seem to have a problem with it yourself."

Peter shrugged and said, "I feel like I relate more to not having my parents around anymore, but go off I guess.”

Harley shook his head. “No, don’t change the subject. I saw you today letting Eugene ( _Ha he calls him Eugene!_ ) bully you. Why do you let that happen?”

“I don’t really know. You’re not the first person to notice that I don’t really seem to value myself that much.”

They went back to walking in silence. 

\--------------------------------

Harley cleared his throat. “Say where can a guy get something to eat? Patrolling is hard work.”

“Oh, yeah right up here.”

Peter led them to some food trucks up the road, and they’re walking back when Peter noticed Harley seemed a little twitchy.

“Are you okay Harley?”

Harley looks between Peter and his hands and laughs shakily. “Yeah, sorry I just don’t like crowds of people that much. It’s been a long day too, ya know?”

“Yeah, I totally get it. My hearing is a little… sensitive, so I feel a little overwhelmed sometimes too.” As Peter finished talking, they rounded a corner to see a group of people waiting at the bus stop. Peter sensed Harley come to a stop behind him, so he reached behind himself and grabbed Harley’s wrist. Actually pulling Harley through the group of people, Peter apologetically said, “It’s my friend’s first time in New York.”

They keep walking ( _Oh my god Peter let go of his hand_ ). A few blocks later they heard a fire siren. Well, Peter heard a fire siren. He looked around. 

Harley noticed him perking up, and asked, “What’s going on?”

Peter sheepishly replied, “Oh I thought I heard a siren.”

A minute later Harley heard it too. “You said you had sensitive hearing, but I didn’t realize you had super hearing.”

Peter felt his eyes growing wide. “Ha! Ha Harley good joke.”

A few blocks later and they could see the fire. An apartment building had some smoke coming out of the 4th floor. After joining the crowd forming across the street, an idea came to Peter. He grabbed his phone and just started talking, “Hi May. Yeah we’re over here in Astoria. By the fire. Yeah.” He took his phone away from his ear and asked, “Hey Harley I gotta take this, I’ll be right back?” 

Harley stared at him for a good 4 seconds before he smiled and said, “Sure, no problem.”

Peter fast-walked away from the crowd, then rounded a corner and put on his suit. 

Peter took a deep breath and got to work. “KAREN, what are we looking at here?”

“Scanning… There seems to be two children trapped on the 5th floor. The fire is directly below them.” 

Peter swung up and through the crowd of people across the street. He kicked through a window, inhaling a few lungfuls of smoke before his suit’s air filters started up. Coughing, he ran through the nearest door and found the two children in question hiding behind a bed. The younger of them, a girl about 4 or 5 years old (Peter was TERRIBLE with guessing ages) was yelling at him in Spanish. 

“Ven aqui, por favor, ven aqui!” Peter yelled out. _Dear god I hope that was right._

The older girl grabbed her sister and they both crawled over to Peter. Peter could see that the smoke coming in through the floor vents was turning darker. His eyes got wide as he grabbed both kids and sprinted out the way he came. He swung through the window just as he heard something collapse back in the room. Landing down on the pavement, he heard some cheers from the crowd as he passed the girls off to a paramedic. He saw who he assumed was their father running up to him to hug him. 

“Thank you,” the father sobbed, “You run downstairs to grab the mail and everything goes to hell! Thank you Spider-Man.”

Peter glanced at the over crowd and saw Harley staring RIGHT at him. Peter quickly said goodbye to the family, then swung back over the crowd and around the corner. After quickly changing, Peter casually walked back down the street toward Harley, pretending to finish up his call with May. 

When he was back in earshot of Harley, Peter pretended to wrap up the phone call by saying (maybe a little too loudly), “Okay, May, yes I will get to bed by 11.. Have fun at work. Love you, bye.” Peter looked up and saw Harley staring at him. Peter coughed and asked “So what did I miss?”

“You missed Spider-Man going into the building to save some children. How did you miss him? He literally just swung down the street you were on.” Harley squinted at Peter.

Peter could feel himself sweating. His voice went up an octave as he said, “Well, um, May was having trouble at work, so I was kind of concentrating on that…”

Harley was still squinting as he said, “Right… so you heard a fire truck way before I did, but couldn’t tell Spider-Man swung right over you.”

Peter tilted his head and replied, “...Yes?”

Harley nodded and said, “Sounds legit. You can be kind of spacey.”

Peter scrunched up his face and said, “Well excuuuuuuuuse me Princess!”

Harley started walking away from the crowd, and said “You daydream a lot at school. When I look over at you, you’re barely paying attention to the teacher. Also please tell me you haven’t played the CDI games.”

Peter tried to ignore the “When I look over at you” and replied, “I get bored sometimes in class, sue me.”

Harley gave Peter finger guns and said, “Aha! SO if you’re BORED, WHAT DO YOU DO FOR FUN!?”

Peter balled his fists and snarkily shot back, “I DON’T DO THINGS FOR FUN! IS THAT WHAT YOU WANTED ME TO SAY?”

Harley paused and said, “Yes.”

They kept walking. 

Harley took in a breath but Peter interrupted him, “I don’t know why I don’t do things for myself, why I don’t do things for fun, so don’t ask.” 

Harley sighed and said, “But anger is a secondary emotion. You’re feeling something else about this, and getting angry second. What are you feeling?”

_Who knew Harley was such a psychologist?_ “I’m feeling upset with myself for not taking care of myself. You’re not the first person to notice that I don’t really take care of myself, or prioritize myself in anything. I’m angry because it’s so obvious that some boy I just met yesterday is able to point it out.”

Harley looked at Peter ( _why is he doing that so much?_ ) and said, “Don’t feel too bad Peter, I’m really good at reading people.” 

Peter snorted and said, “Not _too_ bad, eh? Just a little bit?”

Harley laughed and said, “Well yeah. So even if you don’t have any regular things you do for fun, when was the last time you remember having fun?”

_Not Spider-Man related? Hmm. Okay. Probably something with my friends? But not something Spider-Man related._ “Probably homecoming? ...Last year?” 

“Last year?!"

"Yeah. Anyways. Can we talk about something else?"

"One more question."

Peter sighs. "Fine."

"What was the best part about homecoming?"

_Oh god. Getting to ask Liz. Having May dress me up. Ringing Liz's doorbell. Meeting the Vulture-_

"Um probably my date. I was trying to work up the courage to ask her out for awhile, then she goes up and pretty much pulls the question out of me (kind of like what you've been doing all night)."

Was it Peter's imagination or did Harley seem to deflate after he mentioned Liz?

Harley looked at Peter and said, "I didn't have a fun homecoming."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah no. As a gay kid in the middle of bum fuck nowhere, I could either go with friends, which I think's lame, or not go at all."

"Oh. I guess I didn't think about that. I haven't had many dates with guys. So I haven't really had to think about that."

"You've had dates with guys?"

Peter glared up at Harley. "Don't sound so surprised."

Harley put up his hands in surrender and laughed. "No, no I'm just… okay."

"Are you one of those people you think bisexuality doesn't exist?"

"Pete don't put words in my mouth."

Peter was ignoring how hearing "Pete" come from Harley's lips was making him feel. "Well?"

"No, I just didn't imagine you going on many dates at all."

Peter looked forward and started walking faster.

Harley kept pace and asked, "Peter, isn't a date considered 'having fun?'"

Peter felt his cheeks get red. "Sometimes dates aren't fun."

"Yeah, I can imagine dates with girls are more fun. The like, two guys I've had dates with were really after one thing."

Peter tried to lighten the mood. "Your secret cookie recipe."

Harley laughed. "Exactly."

Peter repeated, "I stand by my outburst. I haven't had any pure fun since homecoming."

Harley laughed and said, "Going out to get food, taking a walk to enjoy the night air, and having deep talks. What about any of that isn't fun?"

Peter looked away quickly so Harley wouldn't see his eyes growing wide. _Is he saying that-_

"We've spent upwards of 3 hours out here Peter, and congrats, but I've tricked you into having fun."

Peter was going to reply when a timer on Harley's phone went off. _When did Harley set a timer?_

Harley turned it off and looked up at Peter. "Well Peter looks like you should be heading back home." He typed out a text and hit send. 

"What?"

Harley grinned and said, "You told your aunt you'd be in bed by 11."

Peter felt his last remaining brain cell trying to piece together a sentence. "Oh… yeah. Yeah that's right. Huh. Okay. Is Happy coming to get you?"

Harley sat down on a nearby bench. "Yeah, he's not to far away. You don't have to stay here and wait for him with me."

"I don't mind."

Peter sat next to Harley, a little closer than he might have normally. 

Harley looked at Peter. "Peter, I need to ask you something."

Peter felt himself forgetting to breathe. "...Y-yes?"

"Do you know if Spider-Man is single?"


	5. Harley 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter was fumbling with his hands as he asked, “A-are you sure? You don’t even know what he looks like.”
> 
> Harley looked Peter straight ( _gross_ ) in the eyes and said, “Of course I know who Spider-Man is.”

Harley walked into class with a grin on his face. _Everything is going according to plan._ He’s got Peter confused, he aced his Physics quiz yesterday, and now he was going to see what MJ and Ned knew. Harley sat down at their table, where MJ was reading a book. She looked up at him briefly, then went back to it.  
“So, how was the neighborhood?” She asked.  
“It was good. It was really good once Spider-Man showed up to save the day. There was a fire.”  
MJ set down her book. “Oh yeah?”  
“Yeah, it was cool. I wish Peter would’ve been by me right then, he could have introduced me.”  
MJ raised an eyebrow. “Where was Peter?”  
“He got a phone call from his aunt and had to bounce.”  
"Oh?"  
"Yeah. Funny, because it was at that exact moment that Spider-Man showed up!" Harley paused for dramatic effect and glanced at MJ. She quickly looked back at her book.  
"What's wrong, MJ?"  
MJ looked like she was trying to stifle a grin. "Nothing, Harley."  
"I don't believe you."  
MJ put down her book again. "Why don't you tell me what you think is wrong?"  
Harley narrowed his eyes. "Why don't you tell me?"  
MJ pushed her book aside and crossed her arms in front of herself. "How about we tell each other at the same time?"  
"Fine."  
Harley took a deep breath. He said, "Peter is Spider-Man," at the same time MJ said "Peter is a bad cook."  
Harley narrowed his eyes again as MJ's reflected a mischievous glint. "You… you set me up!"  
MJ turned back to grab her book. "You set yourself up. And let the record show that I am still in the running for not ruining Peter's secret. Ned has come close a few times, and I am going to win."  
Harley started to retort but saw Peter and Ned come in the door. _Time for some fun._  
Peter sat down and picked up on the vibe between Harley and MJ. "Is… everything ok?"  
Harley turned toward Peter. "Yeah, we were just discussing your secret, Peter."  
Out of the corner of his eye Harley saw Peter break the metal ruler he was holding. _Interesting._ He quickly looked over to MJ so Peter could try to hide the broken ruler.  
MJ caught on and said, “Yeah, we were talking about how you’re a bad cook.”  
Peter frowned for a second. “I can cook!”  
Ned snorted and said, “Peter the last time you made mac and cheese we had to throw away the pan.” Ned ignored Peters cries of protest and asked, “Hey Harley I’ve heard you like a certain Spider-Man?”  
Harley grinned and said, “Yeah, we had this moment up at the tower. He totally likes me.”  
Peter was fumbling with his hands as he asked, “A-are you sure? You don’t even know what he looks like.”  
Harley looked Peter straight ( _gross_ ) in the eye and said, “Of course I know who Spider-Man is.”  
He watched Peter’s eyelids twitch as he added, “Well, I don’t _technically_ know who Spider-Man is, but I know how I can find out. He’s visited the tower, so I can just review FRIDAY’s security scans and learn his identity.”  
Peter looked like he wanted to say something, but was interrupted by the teacher starting class.  
\--------------------------------------  
Later that day Harley was in the lab booting up a terminal when he heard Peter’s voice.  
“Hey Harley!”  
Harley rearranged his face from the look of concentration he had on, to a smile as he turned around. “Hey… Peter. Wasn’t your lab day… yesterday?”  
“Oh haha yeah but I had some stuff I wasn’t finished with yet.”  
“Oh... ok.”  
Harley turned back around to log into the terminal. FRIDAY’s UI started opening, then the screen went dark. Harley turned around and realized the entire room was dark. He looked over at Peter, who was crawling out from under a desk. _That bastard. That attractive as fuck bastard._  
“Oh weird!” Peter said as he stood up. “That’s never happened before.”  
Harley shrugged his shoulders. “Oh well, it shouldn’t take too long for the power to cycle back on. Like my daddy always said, 'sometimes it takes a week to skin a jack rabbit.'" Harley felt his face fall as he thought about his dad.  
“How is your family Harley?”  
_Oh, we’re gonna get right into it. Okay._  
“My mom is fine. She lives at home with my younger sister. My dad… doesn’t live with us anymore.”  
“Oh, I’m sorry.”  
“I’m not. Not anymore. When your dad leaves you without notice, you get over feeling anything about it.”  
Peter was quiet as he looked at Harley. “I don’t know, Harley. My parents died a while ago, but I’m still not over it. Not parts of it, anyway.”  
Harley looked out the window. “Yeah I guess you’re right. Sometimes I think I've come to a place where I really don’t feel anything toward him anymore. But then something happens, or I think of something, and I’m reminded that he… his leaving really messed me up.”  
Peter cocked his head. “That happens even with the best parents…”  
“No, I mean like, I see any couple out on the street, and I immediately watch them to see if they’re happy. If they have wedding rings on. I have this uneasy feeling that no one can be happy in their relationship, and I don’t know if that’s ever going to go away.”  
Harley looked up and saw that Peter had tears in his eyes. Harley quickly composed his face and stood up. “The power should be up and running any second now.”  
Almost as if on cue, the lights cut back on. The terminal screen lit up, and Harley was in.  
Time to see how good he is at covering his tracks.  
“Hey, FRIDAY?”  
“Yes, Harley?”  
“Where did that power surge originate from?”  
There seemed to be a bit of glee in FRIDAY’s voice as she replied, “From Spider-Man’s room.”  
Harley looked at Peter, who’s eyes were wide (again). “Well, let’s go Peter!”  
Harley could almost physically feel Peter slump his shoulders as they walked to the elevator. A few floors down, and the hallway led out to an atrium. Harley looked around. It was several stories high, and up in the corner was what looked like a safety hatch.  
FRIDAY popped up again, “Spider-Man’s room is up there.”  
_Oh my gosh I have an evil idea._ “Oh my glob Peter I have an amazing idea.” Harley turned to Peter, who was looking more and more miserable by the minute. “Let grab some of Spider-Man’s spare web shooters and swing our way up there.  
Harley watched about 4 emotions go across Peter’s face before he said, “Um, yeah, sure let’s do that.” Peter quickly grabbed his phone from his pocket and held it up to his ear. _For the love of Thor, Peter, not this again. How can such a smart boy think that this is convincing?_ “What was that Mr. Stark?” Peter said, a little too loudly. “You needed to talk to Harley? Okay, I’ll tell him.”  
Peter hung up the phone as Harley tried not to roll his eyes. “Mr. Stark wants-”  
“Why didn’t you just hand me the phone?” Harley interrupted.  
“Oh. Um he said it was something he had to show you…?”  
Harley sighed. “Fine.” He walked toward the staircase. _He’s going to go get rid of the web shooters._ Harley shut the stairwell door and heard Peter call the elevator. He started sprinting back upstairs.  
“Hey, FRIDAY?”  
“Yes, Harley?”  
“Can you halt the elevator that Peter is in?”  
FRIDAY laughed. She actually LAUGHED. “Sure.”  
Harley grinned as he took the stairs two at a time.  
He arrived upstairs to see… PETER. Peter was standing at the terminal Harley was using before, his hand over the keyboard. Peter’s eyes were wide ( _his hair was really cute when it fell in front of his face like that_ ) as he said, “W-what did Tony want?”  
_A bold one, this boy is. All right, Underoos, I’ll call your bluff._ “Actually, Tony needed both of us. Come on.”  
Harley turned back around to lead Peter to the elevator, trying to conceal his grin. Upstairs it took a minute to find Tony, as he was getting off the phone with someone.  
“-and I will too get it in mauve. Yes I know what color mauve is, shut up. Yeah bye.”  
Tony set his phone down and raised an eyebrow at his devil children. “... did you all need something?”  
Harley winked at Tony and said, “Yeah, you told me to go get Peter and come upstairs. You said that Spider-Man was coming to visit?”  
To Tony’s credit he didn’t bat an eyelash as he caught on to what was happening. _He is THE Tony Stark, after all._ “Yeah, that’s right,” Tony said, “Pete, Spider-Man’s on his way over and wants you to look at his web shooters.”  
Harley grinned from behind Peter, from where he could literally see Peter’s back ( _his, um, very_ attractive _back_ ) seize up for a second.  
Peter stuttered out, “C-cool, Mr. Stark! Let me… hey let me run to the bathroom real quick, before he comes.” Peter ran out of the room as Harley grinned at Tony.  
Tony raised his eyebrows and said, “Be nice to him, he’s a very small ball of stress.”  
Harley shook his head. “I can’t promise that, old man.”


	6. Peter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Say, Mr.-Tony, do… do you know if Harley is… seeing anyone?”

Peter sprinted up the stairs, shrugging off his sweater in the process. _Damn you, Mr. Stark!_ He slipped into his room and very quickly changed into his suit.

"FRIDAY, did anyone follow me?"

"No, Peter."

FRIDAY seemed like she wanted to laugh. Peter could swear that she was becoming more and more like her creator everyday. In some ways she probably was.

He leapt out of the window and ( _oh shit where are my web shooters_ ) quickly grabbed onto the glass. Peter quickly crawled down the window and slid in the open window (thanks FRIDAY) a floor below.

He landed inside the tower to see Tony and Harley grinning ( _dear Thor why_ ). 

“Hey Spider-Man,” said Tony, “what happened to your web shooters?” 

Harley looked straight ( _blech_ ) at Spider-Man and said, “Actually I know exactly where they are! Give me one second.” 

Harley left the room via the elevator. Tony looked over at Peter. 

“Peter when you going to tell him that you're Spider-Man?” 

“I honestly don't know Mister St.- Tony. At what point does it just feel like it goes on for too long?” 

“Harley’s a smart kid. He'll figure it out on his own, and you better hope he doesn't feel hurt that you took so long.” 

_Oh god thanks for that. Let’s just add it to the anxiety pile._

“Say, Mr.-Tony, do… do you know if Harley is… seeing anyone?”

Tony cackled. _He’s just laughing dear god, what does that mean???_

The elevator dinged, and Harley walked out with a pair of his web shooters. He smirked and tossed them in the air toward Peter. Peter realized that he had misjudged the distance, and managed to trip over his feet running to get them.

Nobody said anything as Peter picked himself up. _At least no one can see my face under this mask._

“Nice one there Underoos,” Harley joked. 

Peter snapped his head around to look at Harley. “Hey!” His voice cracked. “Ahem, Hey! You can’t call me that!”

Harley took two quick steps up to Peter’s masked face. “So what can I call you then?”

“Ah, I uh” 

They were interrupted by Tony’s cackling. “Spidey don’t be afraid of Harley. He’s mostly hot air.”

Peter noticed Harley flash a grimace across his face before putting on a smile. _Interesting._

“Yeah, you’re one to talk. I’m pretty sure most of this place is built on hot air.” Harley joked. 

Tony pantomimed being shot by an arrow. 

Harley continued, “And who was the one who saved your ass in Tennessee?”

“Um, okay, I ALSO saved YOUR ass in Tennessee?”

“Tony!”

The three of them whipped their heads around to see Pepper Potts entering the room. 

“Do not swear at a child. He’s defenseless.”

Harley started to pipe up to argue but Spider-Man interrupted by whispering, “Haha, you’re a child.”

Peter noticed that Pepper was looking at him. _Shit._

“You’re one to talk Spider-Man, how old are you again?”

“Hey I’m older than Harley!” Peter protested.

Harley (dramatically) turned his head around to look at Peter.

“Oh really? Are you in my grade?”

“Uh… You’re in Peter’s class I’m assuming?”

Harley’s eyes widened. _Shit._ “Why, YES I am in Peter’s class. You know him, right? Yay big and really high strung?"

_Hmph._ "Well I think Peter's great!" 

Harley rolled his eyes. "Yeah well you're sort of biased."

Peter turned his scowling mask-covered face toward Tony. "Tony what do you-"

Tony and Pepper had (wisely) left the room while they were bickering.

Harley sighed and looked at Peter. "Underoos, can you take me swinging sometime?"

"Um. Sometime maybe. We're not there yet. Also there are forms…"

"...because I'm a minor? Um aren't you too?"

"That's not important."

Harley looked like he was about to say something. _Quick Peter think! ___

____

____

"A-day Harley why don't I take you up to the roof instead? Huh? Compromise?"

Harley narrowed his eyes. "Compromise is what caused World War Two, but okay."

\--------------------------------------

Up on the roof Harley was contentedly swinging his feet. _Okay. Time for my own interrogation._

"So Harley I noticed you made a face when Tony sold you out earlier."

Harley stopped swinging his feet. "Oh? 

"Yeah, when Tony said you were full of hot air."

“Oh.” Harley looked down at his feet. 

_Shit._ “We don't have to talk about it if you don't want-” 

“-No it's fine, I don't mind,” Harley interrupted. “Growing up I always felt I was on the outside. I always felt like I was just kind of watching other people have fun and be themselves and be totally involved. I mean, now I know for the most part it was because I was in the closet, but back then I just felt alone. When Tony made that joke I just felt kind of excluded? And that's not his fault, it's just left over from how I used to feel all the time.”

“I know what you mean,” Peter said, as he started swinging his legs and looking out over the city. “There are times when I feel like there's nobody I can really connect with, and it's not just the secret identity thing. Sometimes I just feel like I've walked into a room where everyone else knows what's going on but me.”

“That has to be tiring.” 

“It is,” Peter said. “It gets confusing too, because when I'm out saving people, everyone loves me, but they don't actually know who I am. And then I’m P-just myself, the people around me don't know that I’m Spider-Man. BUT at the same time I don't want everyone to know my identity, ‘cause then the people I love will be in danger.”

“Huh.” Harley started swinging his feet again. “That’'s a little bit outside my pay grade.” 

Peter laughed and said, “ANYWAYS let’s talk about something else. A little birdie told me you like someone?”

“Damn. Was that little ‘birdie’ Sam Wilson?”

“Ha no.”

“Uh, yeah actually I do.”

“Oh?”

“Yes.”

“Who… who-do I know them?”

“Yes, actually you probably do. They go to school with me.”

“O-Oh?”

“Yeah… hey speaking of classmates, I wonder what’s taking Peter so long in the bathroom…”


	7. Harley 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harley’s eyes widened as the wheels started to turn. _Got it. This will work out perfectly._  
> 

Harley was walking to class when he heard it. Peter’s voice. But it wasn’t Peter’s normal voice. Peter’s normal voice was sort of higher pitched and bubbly, like a songbird telling you what day it was. Peter’s voice today was not like that. Peter’s voice today was very low, and sort of gruff. Harley walked closer and could hear another voice. _Ugh._ Flash’s voice. “Okay now Penis, watch where you’re going next time!” Harley quickly got to the corner and rounded it to see Peter kneeling on the floor, picking up his papers and books. Flash was sauntering ( _yes, the goddamn prick was sauntering_ ) off down the hall in the opposite direction.  
Peter seemed to sense ( _oh right, Spider-sense. Ha._ ) Harley’s presence and muttered, “You’ll be late to class Harley.”  
Harley walks up to Peter and gets down to help him pick up the papers. “Yeah, some things are more important than class.” _Was that a smile he gave me?_  
“Why do you let him do that to you Peter? You could totally demolish him.”  
Peter looked over at Harley quickly and Harley remembered, _oh yeah he doesn’t know that I know._ Harley quickly added, “One phone call to ANYONE in that tower and Eugene would never even enter the same room as you.”  
Peter shrugged. “I’d rather he get his anger out on me than on someone else.”  
“Sure, okay, but like, NORMAL people ‘get their anger out’ in HEALTHY ways, NOT by bullying their classmates.”  
“Yeah, that’s true.”  
Harley stopped for a second and glanced at Peter. “Peter, you don’t value yourself very much do you?”  
“What do you mean?”  
“You’re showing Eugene that you value this ‘someone else’ more than you value yourself.”  
“Is that a bad thing?”  
“Yes, yes it is. You can show value for other people WITHOUT devaluing yourself.”  
Peter went back to picking up his stuff. “I… don’t know how.”  
“Oh.”  
“Yeah.”  
“Hmm. Well that’s why I’m here. I’m GREAT at valuing myself.”  
Peter snorted. _At least he’s smiling again._  
“Come on, let's get to class.”  
\-------------------------------------------  
Peter set down his books and excused himself to the bathroom. Class hadn’t started yet so Harley turned over and looked at Ned and MJ. _Should I tell them my plan? I don’t want Peter to feel “left out” from something…_  
MJ made that decision for him and said, “Hey Ned.”  
“Yeah?”  
“Harley knows about Peter.”  
Ned widened his eyes and made like he was going to shush Harley until Harley caught his eyes. Ned relaxed and said, “oh, okay. Cool.”  
“Are you all talking about Penis? What’s cool about _him?_ ”  
Flash had overheard and decided to graft himself into the conversation. _I feel like that’s the only way he knows how to talk. Oh well. That’s not my job to fix._  
Harley slammed his fist down on the table and whipped his head around to face Eugene. “Eugene, did I _give_ you permission to talk to us?”  
Harley saw Eugene start to reply, then catch the look in Harley’s eyes. It was the same look he had when those bullies back home had called him a slew of homophobic words. The look that said, “ _I will bury your body so deep no archaeologist will ever find the bones._ ”  
Eugene quickly shut his mouth and sat back down at his desk. Harley turned back around to see Ned grinning and MJ trying not to smile behind her book. Peter was back at the table, and broke off eye contact with Harley as he tried not to smile. Peter quickly changed the subject and asked, “Hey who’s coming to Clint’s going away party tonight?”  
Harley’s eyes widened as the wheels started to turn. _Got it. This will work out perfectly._  
\-------------------------------------------  
Harley sat on the chair, tapping his foot. He had texted both MJ and Ned, asking them to arrive to the party early, but so far only MJ had shown up. He had a sneaking suspicion that Ned was stuck coming to the party with Peter, which he had a Russian contingency for. Harley was just about to explain the plan to MJ when the elevator opened. Peter walked out with Ned in tow, talking animatedly about something (Ned’s eyes were apologetically wide). Harley surreptitiously tapped his smart watch, and a few seconds later Natasha appeared, as if from nowhere ( _which was probably the case_ ). Peter stopped to talk to her, and Ned hurried over to join MJ and Harley.  
“Sorry, he caught me after school and-”  
“Never mind that Ned,” Harley interrupted, “The reason I wanted you here tonight…”  
As Harley was explaining, he noticed that Peter was glancing around Natasha and caught his eye. Peter flashed him a smile and Harley stuttered as he quickly wrapped up with Ned and MJ.  
MJ rolled her eyes and said, “Harley, you know his poor little heart can only take so much of this, right?”  
Harley snorted, “Yeah, oooookay MJ. He’s a superhero, he can take a lot more than we think.”  
Peter finally had extricated himself from Natasha (courtesy of Harley tapping his watch again) and started walking toward them. “Hey guys, sorry about that. What were you all talking about?”  
_Shit I’m trying to avoid this. Peter feeling left out. Ummm._  
“We were taking bets on what Black Widow wanted to talk to you about?” Ned said.  
_Whew. I’m usually quicker on my feet. Must have been his smile that got me…_  
Peter laughed. “Oh, it was just internship related.”  
_Here’s where the fun starts._  
Harley looked Peter in the eyes and said, “It’s okay, Peter, I know about Spider-Man.”  
If Harley had super hearing, he could’ve sworn he physically heard Peter’s heart stop beating.  
There was a slight blush on Peter’s neck ( _For Thor’s sake he really is hopeless_ ) as he replied, “Uh-Um what?”  
Harley nodded. “Yeah, that you work for him with your internship, right?”  
Peter deflated and said, “Y-yeah.”  
There was a brief pause and then MJ said, “Hey did y’all see that Buzzfeed article about the top Nickelodeon cartoons?”  
Ned pantomimed a cartoonish gasp and said, “OUR MJ has been browsing BUZZFEED?”  
MJ blushed for a second and said, “No, Nedward, our dear friend Betty sent me the link during study hall. _Of course_ I didn’t open it.”  
Peter smiled. “Well I haven’t read it myself, but nothing beats Avatar.  
Harley asked, “The blue people one??”  
The stank look on Peter’s face made Harley break character. He laughed and said, “Sorry I was just channeling my inner Gen-Xer.”  
“You’ll never guess my favorite show,” MJ said.  
The group looked at her and all spit out their answers.  
“Victorious!”  
“The Wild Thornberrys!”  
“Chalkzone!”  
MJ smirked. “Okay, first of all, Ned, Victorious is a live action show, we’re talking about _cartoons._ Second of all, you’ll never guess it. I saw a bunch of reruns of it after it had been taken off the air.”  
Harley nodded. “Well, my favorite would have to be Jimmy Neutron. It’s fun to go back and watch reruns, and laugh at how dated the animation is.”  
Peter gave Harley a look. “Well, that’s what’s so great about Avatar. The animation holds up still, _Harls._ ”  
Harley rolled his eyes. “Okay, _Petey-boy._ Avatar is the safe answer. Everyone loves Avatar. It takes a strong man to admit he likes Jimmy Neutron.”  
MJ snorted. “Okay, so only strong men can like a show… about a group of boys… building things?”  
Harley turned to roll his eyes at MJ. “Well, it’s not just _building_ things, MJ-”  
MJ waved her hand dismissively. “I’ve never seen the show, so don’t get started on it Keener.”  
Ned seemed to notice that they’d never drop the subject ( _accurate_ ), so he interrupted. “Say, Peter, do you know if Spider-Man is stopping by tonight?”  
Peter turned his head toward Ned and shot him a look. “You know, I’m not sure… I don’t think he-”  
“Actually, Peter,” Harley interrupted, “I talked to Tony earlier and he _did_ mention that Spider-Man would never miss Clint’s big going away party.” _Not so fast, there, Underoos._  
“Someone said my name?” Clint walked over and joined their group.  
_Fifteen bucks says that Natasha has filled him in._ “Yeah, Clint, actually we were just waiting for Spider-Man to show up.”  
Harley watched as Clint looked over at Peter, and said, “Well he better show up soon! Insulting an AVENGER by being late to their party is un-for-give-able.”  
Peter seemed to squirm where he was standing. “S-Say has anyone seen Tony yet tonight?”  
Clint laughed and said, “You couldn’t hear him? He’s over by the balcony telling that fib about the time he ‘saved my ass.’”  
Peter hurried off in Tony’s direction, as Clint looked at Harley’s grinning face.  
“What, are you gonna say that I should take it easy on him?” Harley asked.  
Clint smirked and said, “Hells no. Have fun with it!” He walked away to join another group of guests.  
It was right then that Spider-Man walked by. MJ waved her hand to get his attention and said, “Hey, Spider-Man, come join us!”  
Spider-Man hesitated for a second ( _his brain is gonna overload soon_ ) and said, “H-Hey guys.”  
Ned ( _thank Thor for Ned’s quick thinking_ ) said, “We were just talking about our favorite Nick cartoons. We can’t guess MJ’s, but I’m pretty sure that Peter told me once your favorite was… Jimmy Neutron?”  
Harley’s eyes lit up and he went with it. “Yeah, I was just talking to Peter and he said that you hated that blue person TV show? The Avatar one?”  
Spider-Man’s eyes narrowed for a second ( _let’s see if he figures it out_ ) before he replied with, “Well you know Peter, he’s not a reliable source of information.”  
“Hmm,” MJ said, “that’s a good point. Let’s ask Peter why he said something wrong. Say, where is Peter?”  
_This is too much. I’m going to start laughing soon._  
“Hmm. I think I saw him over by… Tony? Let-let me go get him for you guys.” Spider-Man quickly scurried (ha, arachnid joke) away into the crowd.  
They all stood there for a second. MJ looked at her watch and asked, “Should we time him or something?”  
Peter quickly came from down the hall (not from by Tony), STILL wearing his Spider-Man suit, with the mask removed. “Hey guys!” ( _Did he think it would make more sense to come from a different direction?!?_ )  
The group looked at him, but this time Harley said something first. “Hey, Peter, Spider-Man was just looking for you, but he went over that way.” Harley pointed over to the balcony and watched as Peter’s cheeks flushed red.  
“W-Well, I went to the bathroom, I guess Spider-Man’s probably still looking for me… let me go find-”  
“ALSO Peter”  
“Yeah?”  
“That’s a nice Spider-Man costume you’re wearing!”  
Peter’s eyes were like saucers as he realized he hadn’t taken off the Spider-Man suit completely. He glanced at Harley quickly to see if the jig was up. _Keep a straight ass face, Keener. This is where you sell it._  
“Uh. Um, yeah. Yeah I uh, actually this IS Spider-Man’s costume ( _??!!_ ), we’re about the same size, so I try to test them out for him.”  
MJ cough/laughed into her soda and said, “Hey Ned, show me where the bathroom is in this place.”  
MJ looked back at Harley over Peter’s shoulder and signed “END H-I-M!”  
“Hey, Peter, let’s go look for Spider-Man.” Harley grabbed Peter’s arm and led him through the crowd. On the surface Harley could say that he grabbed Peter’s arm so that he wouldn’t run off again, but was that the only reason? _Hmm. Catalog this away for later analysis._  
Harley was stuck in his head when he lost his footing. He let go of Peter as he fell, but felt Peter’s strong-ass hand grab his arm and hoist him up. He looked up at Peter’s eyes as Peter asked, “Are you okay?” Those… those _beautiful_ brown… eyes...


	8. Peter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter stopped talking as MJ hit him with her book. She set it down and glared at him, “Do you ACTUALLY need my advice, or am I just a lesbian dialogue device?”

What a stressful party. Peter walked through the halls with Ned on their way to class. He elbowed Ned in the ribs. "Thanks SO MUCH for the help on Friday, Ned." Ned gasped and grabbed his side ( _oops a little too strong_ ). "Peter you make this stuff too easy. If you'd just _tell_ Harley…"  
"Yeah I don't know. I mean I know he's gotta find out eventually, but it's nice to have a new friend that doesn't also know me as Spider-Man, ya know?"  
"Yeah, I guess. But you gotta tell him eventually."  
Ned waved goodbye and headed off to class. As he was rounding the corner, Peter spied Flash notice him. _For fuck's sake. Just one day where this pathetic kid doesn't try to mess with me._  
Flash grinned his awful grin and started sauntering toward Peter. At that same moment, Harley walked out of a classroom. He smiled over at Peter, then followed his gaze over to Flash. Harley's face changed and he started walking toward Flash. Peter's super hearing could pick up Flash's grumbling as he said, "You and your boyfriend, Keener." Harley turned around as Flash walked away, a blush creeping up his face. _I have to pretend I didn't hear that. Also he's BLUSHING. Ahhh. Hold that for later. Peter._  
“Hey Pete, are you okay?” ( _Ahh he called me Pete okay focus_ )  
“Y-yeah, I’m fine. It’s not like he could hurt me anyway.”  
Harley looked at Peter for a second and said, “Yeah, I believe that. At the same time, you don’t really take care of yourself.”  
Peter furrowed his brows and asked, “What are you talking about? I-”  
“Do you remember our conversation about having fun? About taking care of YOURSELF?”  
“Oh. Yeah. Yeah. But if he’s harassing me, he’s not harassing others…”  
The look on Harley’s face told Peter that that was the wrong thing to say.  
Harley sighed. “Peter, how do you KNOW he’s not harassing others? And!” Harley waved Peter down from interrupting, “And, what if you ACTUALLY stood up to him? MIGHT that be enough to stop him from bullying ANYONE?”  
Oh. “Oh. I… I hadn’t thought about it like that.”  
Harley smiled. “That’s why you have me.”  
_Yeah I do have you…_  
The bell rang and Harley groaned. “My class is all the way down the C hallway. Gotta go!”  
Harley sprinted off around a corner, leaving Peter dazed standing outside his classroom door.  
_Do I like Harley? Like, like-like Harley? He’s really nice. He seems to get me. He’s asked me questions that have really made me think about myself. He seems to care? Peter walked into class and sat down next to MJ. I’ve dated a few boys before, but not like date-dated. Not like what I would want with Harley. The teacher started taking attendance. What do I want with Harley? I’d like to date him, for sure. I mean, I already spend time with him, but I’d like to be his. Like, I want him to be mine. Hmm. Maybe I’m not looking at this clearly._  
“MJ, I have a question.”  
MJ put down her book. “Yes?”  
“I think… I think I like Harley.”  
MJ raised an eyebrow ( _I still don’t have a full read on her_ ) and asked, “Yeah?”  
“Yeah, I think so. But I’m not sure if I like him for real, or am just so used to him that I feel like we should be dating.”  
“Isn’t that-”  
“But part of me says that that’s just the natural flow for some friendships, that they should develop into a relationship. I’m not sure.”  
“Maybe you’re just-”  
“But I’m thinking that, maybe I’m just unsure because he’s living with Mr. Stark, I mean, Tony and Ms. Potts. Like I shouldn’t be going after someone who is _that_ involved,” Peter made a crossing motion with his fingers, “in more than one part of my life?”  
“Or maybe that’ll-”  
“Or MAYBE-oof!”  
Peter stopped talking as MJ hit him with her book. She set it down and glared at him, “Do you ACTUALLY need my advice, or am I just a lesbian dialogue device?”  
Peter sheepishly lowered his shoulders. “S-sorry.”  
“Anyways. Peter. MAYBE,” MJ held her book up in one hand, menacingly, “MAYBE having him in MORE than one part of your life is a good thing. Dating someone MEANS sharing your life with them, not just compartments of it. Including,” MJ leaned in, “Including the Spider-Man bit. You already know the two of you work in the parts of life you share, why not share the rest with him?”  
Peter looked at MJ. “Do you… do you think he likes me back?” Peter hated how small his voice sounded. He’s been trying to sound “older” when he’s out as Spider-Man, but he slipped back into it sometimes as himself.  
MJ rolled her eyes and opened her book. “Peter, everyone likes you, Harley is no exception.”  
Peter looked at the front board. “I’m just not sure, it’s hard for me to read him.”  
MJ snorted. “Harley obviously likes you, he was VERY excited for you and him and Spider-Man to meet.”  
_Yeah. Yeah he was. He was very excited. So excited he fell.. And I grabbed his hand… and helped him off the ground… just like…_ “IN MY DREAM!” Peter yelled out.  
The teacher turned around and glared at Peter.  
“S-Sorry, Ms. Johnson.”  
\--------------------------------------------  
Class let out and Peter scrambled to grab his things. _Why can't Peter Parker be as graceful as Spider-Man?_ He walked out the door and bumped into someone in the hall.  
He heard the recognizable “Watch it nerd!” and felt Flash shouldering him in response. _He’s a nerd too? This is a science school?_ he thought, as he hit the ground, dazed.  
Out of his eyeline, Peter heard Flash laughing. “Watch where you’re going, Peni-oof!”  
Peter sat up and saw an amazing sight. Harley was standing in between Peter and Flash, who was doubled over, grabbing his stomach. Harley’s fists were clenched, ( _Harley has a cute butt_ ) and judging by his body posture, he probably wasn’t making a friendly face at Flash.  
“So listen closely, _Eugene,_ ” Harley spat out, “Peter might not want to hit back, but I don’t have those same qualms. I will FUCK you UP if you touch him again, do you understand me?”  
Flash started to retort, but then Harley fake-lunged toward him. Flash flinched and quickly walked away.  
Harley turned toward Peter and quickly put a smile on his face. _It’s fascinating how fast he can do that._  
“Hey, are you okay?” _Oh how the turn-tables._ Peter grabbed his outstretched hand and stood up.  
“Yeah, I’m fine, I wasn’t paying attention and ran into Flash.”  
“Is that so, Mr. Parker?”  
Harley and Peter turned around to see Principal Morita standing in the hall, with Flash behind him, smirking.  
Harley took a half step in front of Peter ( _my hero_ ), and said, “Yes it is, Mr. Morita. He bumped into Eugene and he shoved Peter to the ground.”  
“Hmm. Mr. Thompson, is that true?”  
Flash’s face quickly fell when he realized that he wasn’t getting out of this scot-free.  
“Y-Yes, Mr. Morita. But-”  
“And, Mr. Morita,” Harley interrupted, “This isn’t the FIRST time that Eugene has bullied Peter.”  
Mr. Morita raised his eyebrows. “Be that as it may, Mr. Keener, physical retaliation is not how we do things here. Detention, for both you and Mr. Thompson will be in order. Now, get to class.” Harley smiled back at Peter ( _sigh_ ) as he walked off down the hall.  
Mr. Morita’s face softened as he asked, “Mr. Parker, are you okay?”  
“Y-Yeah, thank you.”  
“You need to stick up for yourself, Peter. Harley won’t always be nearby.”  
Peter nodded.  
“All right, get to class.”  
Peter walked down the hallway toward his next class. _Wait. Wait a minute. Harley’s last class was all the way down C Hall. How did he get to my classroom so quickly? Does he… does he like me too??_


	9. Harley 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Do you resent Peter?”   
> Eugene shook his head.   
> “Do you... Are jealous of Peter?”   
> Eugene snorted violently and looked over at Harley.

_Just my fucking luck. I stand up for Peter and what do i get? Detention._ Harley glanced over at Eugene, sitting a few desks over from him. _And with the bully himself._  
The teacher, Ms. Hoover, was doing a crossword up at her desk. Harley looked over at the clock. 3:35. Still another 25 minutes to go.   
_If the principal hadn’t shown up, I could’ve…_ Harley frowned to himself. What would he have done? Hugged Peter? Kiss… Kissed Peter?   
_So huh. Yeah I like Peter. Okay. Cool. And we already know that Peter is into guys. Hm. Okay. Huh._ If Harley was back home in Tennessee, he’d probably already be kissing Peter behind the bleachers. At the same time, Harley knew he had to do this right. Peter was special. He wasn't like the other guys back home. Harley really liked talking to him, and liked learning about him. It didn't hurt that he was also secretly Spider-Man. He-   
There was a crash outside of the classroom. Miss Hoover set down her crossword and looked at both Flash and Harley.   
“Nobody move or talk,” she ordered.. She got up and left the room. As soon as she shut the door, Flash glanced over at Harley quickly and back down at his desk. Harley took a deep breath. _It looks like I'm going to have to do this for both of us._ “Now look, Eugene-”   
“I don't know why you call me Eugene. Everyone else calls me Flash.”   
“Well, it's because I want to talk to the _real_ you, Eugene, not this Flash you've built up. Eugene’s continued silence meant Harley kept going.  
“Anyway, I'm sorry I hit you that hard. Notice I didn’t say ‘sorry I hit you,’ because I'm not. No matter how much you think otherwise, you pushed Peter to the ground that's not okay.   
Eugene shrugged his shoulders and continued to look at his desk. “I don't know why this is such a big deal to you. Peter knows I'm joking around.”   
Harley turned sideways in his desk. “Are you sure? Peter has never mentioned anything close to ‘joking around’ when it comes to you messing with him. And I'm using the word ‘mess with’ in the lightest sense here, because any half-rate school psychologist could look at what's happened see it’s targeted harassment.   
Eugene glanced at Harley.   
“And,” Harley continued, “It usually takes two people to enjoy a joke. Has Peter ever seemed to enjoy this ‘joking?’”   
Flash was silent again.   
Harley pressed on. “And I know that Peter can-”   
“I know I guess you're right,” Eugene interrupted, “I think deep down I knew what was happening wasn’t really joking. It's just kind of what I know.”  
“Do you know why you harass Peter like this?” Harley asked. He looked at Eugene’s body language and asked this next question. “Do you resent Peter?”   
Eugene shook his head.   
“Do you... Are jealous of Peter?”   
Eugene snorted violently and looked over at Harley. “What the fuc-” He stopped when he met Harley’s eye gaze. “Well, I mean, I guess? He doesn’t even really try and just understands everything!”  
Harley nodded. “Well, without going into too much detail, because Peter can tell you if he wants to, but just because school work seems easy for Peter doesn’t mean that the rest of his life is. Eugene, you’re rolling in cash and you are one of the more popular guys at school.” _When you’re not harassing the most beautiful boy in the world._ “So even though nothing excuses harassment, I do want to say that I understand a _little bit_ more where you’re coming from. Again, that doesn’t give you an excuse to bully. And, _hopefully,_ moving forward, you now understand that Peter doesn’t want this. Understand?”  
Eugene nods as the fire alarm starts to go off.   
Ms. Hoover ran back in the room looking slightly harried. She glared at both of them, sitting there in their seats, and yelled, “Well, don’t just stand there! I don’t know what is happening today. You’re both dismissed!”  
\-------------------------------------------------------  
Down at the front steps, Harley saw Peter sitting on a step looking down at his phone. _Wait, was he actually waiting for me?_  
Peter perked up and turned around. Harley noticed ear plugs in his ears. Peter seemed to forcefully keep eye contact with Harley, pointedly avoiding eye contact with Flash.   
Harley smiled. “Hey Peter, so coincidental of you to be waiting out here for us… wait a minute… Did you… did you start the fire?”  
Peter grinned and looked at Harley. “It was always burning since-”  
“Nice one Parker, I didn’t think you had it in you.” Flash interrupted.   
Harley turned toward Flash and saw he his eyes were anxiously looking at Peter. Harley looked back at Peter and saw that he was trying to keep a poker face.   
“Hey, Parker, I’m sorry if I-”  
Harley shook his head and interrupted, “Nope, Eugene, that’s not an apology. Try again.”  
Flash looked at Harley for a second and started again. “Peter, I’m… I’m sorry for harassing you. I’ve learned something about myself today. I… I don’t expect us to be friends but, I… I will try to be better.”  
Peter blinked a few times. “Th-Thank you Flash?”  
Flash nodded and started to walk away toward his car.  
Peter quickly signed at Harley. “YOU TELL-HIM SOMETHING?”  
Harley grinned and signed, “I am SIMPLY a MIRROR.”  
Peter gave Harley a half smile and smacked his shoulder. _OW he forgot to pull that punch._  
Peter yelled after Flash. “Hey, Flash, Harley and I are gonna go get sandwiches at this bodega I know. Wanna join us?”  
Flash looked surprised as he turned around. “Thanks Parker, but I don’t wanna intrude. See you at school.”  
 _I don’t wanna intrude?_


	10. Peter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Oh Harley. Beautiful, stupid, Harley._

“...and then they completely rewrote Luke’s character.”

Peter nodded along to what Ned was saying. They were all at Peter and May’s apartment, a finished game of Trivial Pursuit on the coffee table. It had been a few weeks since Harley’s detention. 

Peter looked over and saw Harley shaking himself back to attention. “Harley.”

“Yes?”

“Do you… do you not like Star Wars?”

Peter tried not to let his voice tremble. He was getting better at that. Channeling his inner-Spider-Man, or something. Harley better like Star Wars. _I do not like someone who doesn’t like Star Wars. I draw the line._

Harley shrugged. “I’ve seen them, I just don’t-”

“Didn’t like the amazing space opera, with its deep themes of redemption?” MJ interrupted.

“Well, I-”

“Maybe he doesn’t enjoy movie sagas that have well thought out visual effects and stellar casting?” Ned piped up.

“No, I-”

“Harley _has_ to like Star Wars. It’s my favorite movie series.” Peter looked up at Harley and quickly looked away. _Cool your jets, Parker._

Harley huffed at the interruptions. “I just like Star Trek better, okay?”

Peter blinked and looked at Ned and MJ. MJ closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

“ _Anyways,_ Harley, what’s your favorite Star Wars movie?”

“Um, I guess one of the Original Trilogy ones? I really liked the love story.” Harley got a blush to his cheeks.

_Oh Harley. Beautiful, stupid, Harley._

“Hmm,” Peter said, “I really enjoyed the Prequel Trilogy, myself.”

“Can we agree that the Sequel Trilogy is NOT what we were hoping for?” Ned asked.

MJ nodded. “I don’t know why Disney-Lucasfilm thought that having one man completely in charge of _The Last Jedi_ was a good idea. Wait yeah I do. Corporate greed.”

“Yeah,” Peter agreed, “Part of me thought they’d still try to keep some of the expanded universe from after _Return of the Jedi,_ even though they declared it all non-canonical. I have to agree with MJ that they did otherwise for probably-mostly money reasons. I mean, I knew that they wouldn’t be able to fully follow the EU-story. That bad boy contradicts itself soooo many times. But, it would have been nice to see some effort. Instead they crapped all over Luke’s character. I do hold some hope out, now that JJ Abrams is directing Episode 9, and it looks like our boy Palpy is coming back.”

Harley nodded. “Yeah, I feel like Disney has been given the benefit of the doubt with their recent creative choices, but the cynic in me says it's all been coincidence so far. _The Last Jedi_ is a textbook example of how Disney just kind of does whatever they want.”

Peter looked at the coffee table. “Yeah, I think that what Disney did wrong with the Sequel Trilogy was the world-building. My favorite thing about the Prequels was exactly that. We were introduced to this amazing world with Episodes 4, 5, and 6, then the Prequels really exploded and fleshed out the universe for me. I mean, I know none of it’s canon anymore, but the books, comics, TV shows and video games that surrounded the Prequels really sold me on Star Wars. It’s escapism without really being in your face about it. That’s what I felt was missing from the Sequel Trilogy. It felt like all the world building from the Prequels was ignored. What’s the First Order? Who’s Supreme Leader Snoke? Do we know? Do we even care? I don’t know. I’m reserving final judgment for Episode 9. JJ Abrams has a lot of weight on his shoulders. Now, don’t get me wrong, I do love the Sequels. More Star Wars is more Star Wars. And this level of representation is unfounded in the Star Wars canon. Story wise I just feel like it wasn’t well thought-out.”

Ned perked up. “Yeah, ‘escapism’ is a good word for it. I always enjoyed the technology and sci-fi stuff, and how it never felt in-your-face, or how it never tried to take over the story?”

Harley looked over at MJ. “MJ, what do you-”

“I’d have to say the political undercurrent. It gets a little bit ham-fisted in _Revenge of the Sith,_ but I attribute that more to George Lucas being himself than the actual story.”

Peter looked over at Harley. “Harley, so your favorite is one of the Original Trilogy ones, right? Probably Empire?”

“Yeah, no I like _Return of the Jedi._ It resolves the story, Han and Leia get their romantic kiss, it has a lot of closure.” Harley’s cheeks grew red again. “And who didn’t have a crush on 80’s-era Harrison Ford?”

MJ snorted. “I didn’t.”

Harley rolled his eyes and looked at Peter. “Which was your favorite?” 

“Well, if I’m being counter-cultural, I’d say _Phantom Menace._ But I really wasn’t old enough to remember Star Wars until _Revenge of the Sith_ came out, so I might say that one, but…” _Why is he looking at me like that?_

“R... _Revenge of the Sith_ is the… third one…?”

Ned’s eyes grew wide and he whipped his head around to Peter. 

Peter started stuttering, “Y-You’ve seen all of Star Wars, right?”

“Y-Yeah-uh?”

“OH MY GOD HARLEY. HARLEY. No. No no no no.”

MJ raised her hand. “It’s okay Peter, I’ll take care of this.” She turned her gaze toward Harley. “Harley, honey.” Harley’s adam apple bobbed down as he gulped. 

His eyes are super-wide and I just wanna stare at them…

“Y-Yes, MJ.”

MJ shook her head. “No, no don’t get familiar with me. I’m Michelle until you catch up on what you need to in order to stay friends with us. You know what you have to do, right Harley?”

Harley nodded, but it was obvious that the hamster up there was dead. 

MJ sighed. “You need to watch the rest of the Star Wars movies. Arguably, the best Star Wars movies.”

Harley kept nodding. “Got-got it. We should we should do a movie-binge at the tower soon.”

Ned nervously nodded in agreement. “The sooner the better.”


	11. Harley 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Is he clenching right now?_

Harley was walking alone back to the subway. After successfully extricating himself from that Star Wars nerd-fest, and turning down any offers of them to call Happy to come pick him up. 

“I can figure out mass transit just fine!” 

“Obviously not if you call it mass transit-”

“Harley are you sure? You’ve only been here a month-”

“Let me call Mr. Stark for you-”

He had excused himself out the door while they were still ribbing him. Harley enjoyed the alone time. Not that he didn’t have alone time at the tower. Well, _that_ kind of alone time… too… anyway. It gave him time to think.

_Do I like Peter? I know I'm attracted to him. Is it just because he's Spider-Man? Did I like him when he was just Peter? I always knew he was good looking._

_I mean, Spider-Man really is just an extension of Peter's personality. So really, being attracted to Spider-Man is being attracted to Peter. And the more I know him, the more I like him. Plus apparently I dreamt about him before I even met him? Like what the hell is that._

Harley slowed down when he realized he was on a different street than his normal walk home. _I need to pay attention to where I’m going. I don’t want to run into anyone unsafe-_

“Hey pretty boy, where you going all alone?”

Harley glanced around and saw- _Oh my god that guy was with those food truck people from the other night..._

Harley started walking a little faster, and tried to surreptitiously pull out his phone. _If I can just figure out what street I’m on I can get the hell out of here… _The footsteps behind him were getting louder.__

__The man behind him yelled after him, “Aww, don’t leave me here alone!”_ _

__Harley sped up again. He knew some generic wrist locks, from getting bullied in school, but nothing more than that. _Fuck. What if he has a knife._ After a few more blocks Harley realized he was heading for a dead-end. _FUCK fuck fuck.__ _

__He scrambled for his phone. _Why the hell didn’t I just call for help earlier-__ _

__The guy had caught up. Harley heard the telltale sound of a blade opening up._ _

__“Ha ha, hey bro, where’s your boyfr-”_ _

__The stalker-guy (Harley decided to call him Bozo) was interrupted by a web grabbing the knife out of his hand._ _

__Hey man! It’s not nice of you to chase people who don’t wanna be chased!”_ _

__Spider-Man swung in from around the building and landed in between Harley and the guy. He stood tall with one hand on his hips, the other holding the knife.  
 _Is he clenching right now? Nope. Stop Harley.__ _

__“Hey Spidey-bitch, gimme back my knife!”_ _

__Spider-Man laughed. It sounded a little forced. “Wait, you were serious?”_ _

__The guy lunged forward to grab his knife out of Peter’s hand. Peter casually flicked the knife out of his right hand into his left._ _

___Peter can barely walk up a flight of steps as himself, but as Spider-Man he can do that?_ _ _

__Peter tossed the knife to his left. Harley saw it embed itself in the brick wall up to the handle._ _

__Bozo’s eyes grew wide and he started to turn around. Peter laughed and exclaimed, “Oh, no you don’t! Where are you going?” He grabbed Bozo’s shoulder and one-handedly threw him up in the air a good ten feet. Bozo started screaming (obviously) and Peter webbed him to the fire escape nearby._ _

__“KAREN, can you please call… okay… already? Wow. Okay.” Spider-Man looked over at Harley. “Do you want to stay for the police, or?”_ _

__Harley shook his head. “I’d rather not, if there’s another option…?” _Like swinging in your muscular-STOP it Harley!__ _

__“Yeah! Yeah the police are used to me webbing people up, so you don’t really have to stay around... “ Spider-Man nodded as if someone was talking in his ear. “....But I’m supposed to say that I can never advise you leave the scene of a crime.”_ _

__Harley rolled his eyes. “Just pick me up, Underoos.”_ _

__\--------------------------------------_ _

__Peter set Harley down on the rooftop. They were about halfway between Peter’s apartment and the Avengers’ Tower in the city. The building wasn’t too tall, but luckily they could see the skyline from the rooftop._ _

__Peter sat down and sighed. “I love this view. It never gets old.”_ _

__Harley sat down next to him. “Yeah, I’ve been here, what, a month? I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of it.”_ _

__Peter scooted closer to Harley. _Am I imagining things or is he more confident when he’s wearing the mask?_  
“H-Hey Spider-Man, I noticed you don’t swing through Manhattan very often.”_ _

__“Yeah, I still try to be a neighborhood-”_ _

__“-Spider-Man. Yeah I figured that’s how you’d answer.”_ _

__“How did you know I would say that?”_ _

__“I’ve seen tapes of you saying that at the tower.”_ _

__“Well I doubt they’re actually tapes-”_ _

__“You read my mind spider-boy. Great minds think alike.”_ _

__“And so do ours!”_ _

__“I feel like KAREN does a lot of thinking for you? Like you didn’t have KAREN when you started out right?”_ _

__“Well, for one, I still think-”_ _

__“Sometimes you do.”_ _

__“Some-hey!”_ _

__Harley cackled. _This is so much fun. I could do this forever… Slow your roll Harley. You aren’t even dating. Yet._  
“ANYWAYS. I do think. KAREN just makes my thinking…. Thinkier.”_ _

__“Hah. As if that is supposed to make you sound smarter.”_ _

__Spider-Man turned to face Harley. “You know what Harley?”_ _

__Harley called his bluff and turned to face him. “What?”_ _

__Spider-Man sighed. “Nothing.”_ _

__Harley leaned back on his elbows and looked at the stars. “You know, if I hadn’t already fallen for someone else, I’d totally date the fuck outta you, boy.”_ _

__“What?” Spider-Man squeaked._ _


	12. Peter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> MJ started to speak but thought better of it. Peter was going to interrupt her anyways.

Peter was fidgety. Well, Peter was always fidgety. That’s a part of being a super-human. No, Peter was _extra_ fidgety today because he needed to talk to MJ. About Harley. Gods, Harley. Peter was interrupted from his thought-spiral by MJ walking into class. She seemed to notice Peter's general unease and rolled her eyes. She sat down and put her book in her bag.  
Peter started absentmindedly tapping the table. _Harley likes someone at school. Who is it? James is pretty cute, maybe he likes James? Do they have any classes together? I could probably ask KAREN to-_

Peter's tapping hand was stopped by MJ slapping it. 

“Peter what is going on?”

Peter took a deep breath. 

“Well okay so I know that I like Harley, and I’m starting to think he likes someone at school? Like the other night I was in the suit and he said that he’d totally date - _Peter blushed at this point_ \- the fuck out of me if he hadn't already fallen for someone else. So who likes him? I gotta find out."

MJ started to speak but thought better of it. Peter was going to interrupt her anyways. Peter started talking again, but if anything he was just thinking out loud. 

"I should just shoot my shot before I lose him. Because what if I’m not making it clear that I like him too? Like, that Peter-me likes him? If anything I should probably tell him that I'm Spiderman. I should probably make sure he likes me for me first you know what I mean? I'm not sure. Will he hate me for waiting this long to tell him? Maybe he suspects? No, I feel like I would know. I do have spider sense so I can tell when things are going on (Ironically Peter didn't catch MJ's eyes rolling). 

"I know what I could do! I could take him on a date. There's this coffee shop at 40th and Queens that I really like. You know the one with the bagels? Yeah there’s an idea. I shouldn't tell him it's a date though. Maybe we need to work on homework? But we normally go to the tower for that. I'll think of something. I don't know. And then after the coffee shop we could go to this rooftop. It's the same rooftop I brought him to a while ago. And if he doesn't connect the dots then I guess I'll just have to tell him? MJ what do you think?”

MJ just simply nodded and said, “Peter I think it's your best idea yet.” 

Peter huffed and said, “I’m going to ignore the unspoken part of that sentence and run to the bathroom before Mr. Jensen starts."

Peter looked up at the door and saw Harley on his way into the room. _Hope you didn't hear that. What am I saying Parker, he doesn’t have super hearing!_  
“Hi Harley,” Peter said try not to stutter. _I need to get better at that._

Harley flashed his smile that gave Peter butterflies. "Peter Petrelli!" He did double finger-guns too.

Peter stared at Harley. 

"...Heroes? No? Never heard that...ok…" 

_How do I have a crush on someone so awkward… Oh my gosh Peter GO TO THE BATHROOM._


	13. Harley 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harley could feel himself blushing again. _Stop it, Harley. To them, you're the cool, calm, collected, homosexual from Tennessee._

_Why do I try to make jokes. Wait that was an a-plus joke. Was Peter nervous about something? Who am I kidding Peter is always nervous about something._

Harley sat down across from MJ. "You thought my impression was funny right?"

MJ just glared at him. 

"Is this a 'racially-charged impression' glare, or a normal MJ glare? I can't tell."

MJ just kept glaring at him.

"You're right, would it be more racist to leave _out_ the accent? Since the character in question is Japanese?"

MJ sighed and started reaching for her bookbag. "Harley, I don't only talk about socially-equitable topics, you know. If anything, it's racist that you're asking me, a person of one racial background, about an impression regarding a person of a different racial background."

Harley nodded. "So I should be asking Walter."

MJ sighed and rolled her eyes. "Walter is not a representative of his race, so you really should just leave him out of it. Also correct me if I'm wrong but weren't there other people who said 'Peter Petrelli' in that show?"

"Yeah but Hiro's is the most iconic."

"I thought Heroes was the name of the show."

They were interrupted by Ned sitting down. "Hey guys, did you see Peter sprinting out of here? What did you say to him, Harley?"

Harley cleared his throat. "Peter said he had to use the bathroom. I wonder if he's really got to go, or he's...you know…?" Harley wagged his eyebrows pointedly. 

Ned nodded agreeably. "Peter time."

MJ coughed, laughing into her book. "I really hope you mean some superhero stuff."

Ned's eyes grew wide as he realized what he'd said. "Oh god, no, ha, no. I have no idea when Peter…"

Harley could feel himself blushing. _Peter is your friend and you don't think about friends that way. Stop it Harley._

"Moving on from that uncomfortable topic… I wanted your opinion on something. So you both know I've had a lot of fun messing with Peter and his secret identity. I think it's finally time to pull the trigger on Operation: Date Peter Parker."

Harley could feel himself blushing again. _Stop it, Harley. To them, you're the cool, calm, collected, homosexual from Tennessee._

MJ rolled her eyes. “Don’t for a second think we don’t see through your “cool, calm, collected look, Harley. Because we do.”

Harley laughed nervously. “I have no idea what you’re talking about, MJ.” 

MJ huffed. Ned, effervescent as ever, just sat there smiling. “So, Harley, where are you going to take Peter?”

“That’s where you guys come in. I’ve spent the better part of this past month or so over in Queens, but I still don’t know the ‘best’ places to eat.”

Harley was looking at Ned, so he didn’t notice MJ perk up, or the sly look that flashed across her face. She said, “Hey, Harley, you should take him to this coffee place off Queens Boulevard.”

Harley’s face lit up. “Yes! THIS is why I made friends with the locals.”

MJ smiled (That should have alarmed Harley, but he was preoccupied). “Of course that’s why. Any-who, I’ll send you the address.”

“Thanks!” Harley leaned down to get out his books, so he missed the look that Ned gave MJ. 

He also missed Ned signing “A-N-Y W-H-O, NEW WORD?”

MJ smiled, one tooth showing through. “LATER.”


	14. Peter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I wish I could go back to the innocence of when I only knew about Heroes season one," Peter said.

Peter was in the lab working on an actuator for his web shooters.   
_So. Okay. How am I supposed to ask Harley out? Like do I just go ahead and ask him? How did Tony ask Pepper out? Did Pepper ask Tony out? I can't exactly ask Tony how he did it. Then he would know I want to ask Harley out. Which he might know about already. But confirming his suspicions would be suicide. GAH. Okay._  
“Peter Petrelli!”  
Peter turned around and quickly covered up the web shooter. _Wait, Peter. Harley knows you work on Spider-Man’s gear._ Peter was so used to hiding everything about Spider-Man that he forgot sometimes.   
Harley was standing in the doorway. _said that earlier today too. Although earlier he had an accent with it._  
Harley nodded as he walked over to Peter’s workbench. “Not a Heroes fan, I see.”  
"Actually I have seen Heroes before. I did get your reference earlier, I just had to go to the bathroom."  
“Oh. Okay. Important question Pete. Which season of Heroes is your favorite?”  
Peter snorted. “That’s not even a question. Season one.”  
“Yeah, mine too. I ‘legally’ downloaded the show one winter and binged it.”  
“Hah. Legally. Sounds about right.”  
“Am I just a delinquent to you, Peter?”  
“Yes.”  
“Oof. That was quick.”  
"I wish I could go back to the innocence of when I only knew about Heroes season one," Peter said. It took him a second to realize he was zoning out, only because Harley waved in his sightline to get his attention as he repeated himself.   
"Dark past, Peter? Killed a lot?"  
 _Does Harley_ know _I'm Spider-Man. Nah that's impossible. Harley's smart but he's an idiot. A cute idiot…_  
"I must've been a hitman in a past life. I have a lot of violent dreams… the ones I can remember anyways."  
“That’s uh… that’s quite an answer.”  
“Hah! Just joking!”  
Harley narrowed his eyes at Peter. “I hope you know that I can read you like a book, Parker.”  
 _Oh god. I hope he can’t. I would like him to spread-_  
“Do you have dreams often Peter?”  
Peter shrugged his shoulders. “The ones I can remember, anyway. I don’t remember most of the dreams I have.”  
 _Wait. Let’s try something._  
Peter turned away from Harley to start cycling the actuator.   
“Actually, the last dream I do remember was really weird. I helped some boy up off the ground.”  
Peter’s super-hearing heard Harley’s heart stop for a split second.  
“Oh, yeah? Was the boy cute? Do you dream of cute boys, Peter?”  
 _Here goes nothing, Peter._  
Peter turned around and looked at Harley. “Just one boy.”  
Harley’s neck started turning red. His mouth was making motions but nothing was coming out. Peter clenched his fists and started to lean forward-  
“Ahem.”  
Peter looked over Harley’s shoulder to see Tony standing in the doorway. “Boys. Spaghetti is ready upstairs.”


	15. Harley 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Soon, Parker, soon it will all be over._

Harley was sitting on a bench, waiting for Peter. _Why is Peter late? He’s Spider-Man, he can literally swing here. Wait, what if he’s fighting crime right now? I should ask FRIDAY to-_

His thoughts were interrupted by a passerby exclaiming, "Hey it's Spider-Man!"

Harley looked up to see Peter webbing his way down the street. 

_Did that ass forget about me needing to talk to him? Fine. We'll have some fun._

Harley cupped his hands and shouted (although Peter could probably hear him just fine), "Spider-Man! Help! HALP!"

It was almost cartoonish how Peter turned his head mid-swing to look at the source of the yelling, do a double take when he saw who it was, and consequently forget to deploy another web. 

Peter frantically rotated his body as he started to fall toward the street.

_Fuck fuck fuck-_ but Peter caught himself on a street lamp. 

"Oh my god, Spidey, are you-"

Peter held up one hand as he dropped down to the sidewalk. "You have a lot of nerve, Keener. Faking a distress call? What would every damsel in the history of cinema think of you?"

Harley fluttered his eyes. "It must be my gorgeous curls, gawsh." 

Peter's masked eyes widened ( _how do I think of these comebacks so quickly?_ ) as he started to stammer out a reply.

_Oh this can get even better._

"Actually, Underoos, I am in distress. I'm supposed to meet Peter Parker here, but he's a good 10 minutes late. I'm worried about him."

Harley's gotten rather good at reading Peter, so even though he was masked up currently, it was pretty easy to fill in the blanks as Peter went through the mental-stages of Recall, Shock, and Panic.

"Oh, huh, that's weird. I haven't- I haven't heard from him in awhile." Peter's voice was a little higher pitched than normal. 

"Hey, KAREN? Do you have a read on Peter Parker?"

Harley decided to save Peter a little bit (before what would have probably been a convincing performance of Peter pretending to listen to KAREN while he thought of something), and said, "Actually, we were going to go to this coffee shop off of Queens Boulevard, maybe he's already there?"

“Huh? Um. Okay. Yeah, maybe he’s over there…?”

“Would you come with me, I don’t really know Queens that well yet (false).”

“Sure…”

As they started walking, Harley could tell Peter was still vibrating under his suit. They got a few odd stares as they passed people on the sidewalk. Harley wasn’t well known as being affiliated with Tony Stark, so hopefully people just assumed he was a lost kid or someone that Spider-Man was helping. 

“So, Spider-Man, I never got to ask you…”

Peter perked up.

“Are you a Prequel or Original Trilogy guy? I don’t know if I could date someone who is a Prequel Trilogy guy.”

“Wha-date? What?”

Harley shrugged his shoulders. “Well, not you, necessarily, but someone. I prefer Star Wars over Star Trek (Harley noticed Peter’s mask-eyes widen at this lie), so I hope to god you don’t like Star Trek more than Star Wars?”

Peter walked in step for a minute and answered, “No, I like the Prequel movies better ( _Peter's honest with this at least_ ), so I guess we could never date, ha-ha.”

Peter’s laugh was very forced. They were coming up on the coffee shop. 

Harley could tell Peter was getting tense again. _Soon, Parker, soon it will all be over._

Peter tried to keep some cheerfulness in his voice. “Well, I guess this is where I leave you. Hopefully Peter is nearby.”

Peter made to web off, but Harley grabbed his forearm. _Is Peter flexing under my hand?_ “Wait, Spider-Man, can you wait with me?” Harley looked up at Peter with his best approximation of puppy-dog eyes (He hadn’t used his in a while, seeing as everyone else in his life back in Tennessee was used to them by now). 

“Eh… Sure.”

\---------------------------------------------------

They stepped inside and looked around. _I’ve got to be a better actor than Pete, right?_ Peter was exaggeratedly looking around the interior of the shop, pretending to look for himself. Harley went up to the barista, a tired-looking college student. _Either this barista is exhausted, or Spider-Man has been here before._

Unfazed, the barista asked, “Hi, what can I get started for you?”

“Yes, I’d like a medium mocha? With a non-dairy milk if you have one.”

“We have oat milk if that works.”

“Sure. For Harley.”

The barista tried not to roll his eyes (there wasn’t anyone else waiting for an order), but then the realization hit him. “Your name is Harley? As in Harley Keener?”

_Am I more famous than I thought?_ “Yes? Who’s asking?”

“I was told to give you this note.”

Peter came up to the counter, also curious what the note said.

Someone had written the coordinates “40°42’14.5”N 73°58’54.5”W” on a piece of paper, with the ominous instructions, “Roof.” below them.

They walked outside and Harley plugged the numbers into his phone. “They’re pointing to an address in Brooklyn, near the river.” Harley looked over and saw Peter trying to remain nonchalant about the cryptic note. “Hey, maybe Peter left this note for me!”

Harley tried not to laugh as Peter almost jumped into the air in surprise. “Ha, yeah, maybe? You should go find out!” Peter made to web off (again), but Harley interrupted by asking, “Peter, it’d be easier if you’d give me a ride there.” _Did I just say Peter? Did he even notice?_

Luckily Peter was too stressed on this supposed note he’d left, to even notice Harley’s slip up. 

“Yeah, I guess that’s true. Come on.”

\-------------------------

A few minutes later, they landed on the roof of an old apartment building. It looked pretty abandoned, but otherwise clean. 

Harley scrunched his nose. “I don’t see Peter here.”

“Heh. Me neither.”

They walked over to the river-facing side of the building. It had a beautiful view of the financial district in Manhattan. 

“Did… Did you like the ride?”

Harley nodded. “Yeah, I liked it. It felt like the apex of a trampoline jump over and over again. Like the world’s whisper.”

Peter almost tripped over himself.

Harley spied a picnic basket and blanket up against the ledge. “Oh my Thor, did Peter do this for me?”

Harley could see Peter’s hands opening and closing anxiously. _Oh my Thor. He didn’t plan this. Then what…?_

Peter noticed a note on top of the picnic basket. “Oh thank god- I mean, look there’s a note!”

“My two friends, enjoy your dinner. -M”

_Was this MJ?_

“Was this MJ?” Peter asked.

“You read my mind, Peter.”

“Huh. Yeah this sounds like her.”

Harley sat down on the blanket. _This is so cliche._ He patted the space next to him.

Peter laughed. “That is so cliche, Harls.” 

Peter sat down and Harley looked in the basket. A couple sandwiches, a bottle of apple cider. Some chips. 

“Huh,” Peter said, “Not too impressive.” 

“I’ll tell MJ you said that.”

“No, no! I love it!”

Harley laughed. Peter seemed to stare at his face just too long. _Oh god. It’s time. Time to tell him._

“So Peter, what’s your favorite building over there to swing off of?” _Dammit Harley. Come on._

“Over in the city?”

“Yeah.”  
“I feel like everyone expects me to say the Avengers Tower, since I know Tony Stark, but-”

Peter whipped his head over and looked at Harley.

“Why did you call me Peter??”

“What?”  
“You just said Peter? Did you mean Peter Parker?”

“I’ve been calling you Peter for the past hour. You’ve been freaking out about this unplanned date and didn’t notice.”

Peter stood up so quickly that Harley jumped. 

“Ah!”

“Sorry. I’m- I’m not-”

“Peter don’t worry. I’ve known you were Spider-Man for quite a while.”

Peter sat down again. He slumped his shoulders and took off his mask. “I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you.”

Harley shrugged. “That’s okay. If you had told me I wouldn’t have been able to mess with you this much.”

Peter reached over and punched his shoulder. Harley winced at the strength.

“Oops, sorry.”

They both stared forward for a good minute. _Okay, here goes._

“Pete-”

“Harley-”

They both looked at each other. Peter was blushing.

“You go first.”

“Harley, I know that you have a thing for someone at school, but I was… wondering… if-”

Harley’s laughter interrupted him. _My god this boy is so dumb._

Peter scrunched up his face. “What’s so funny?!”

“Peter,” Harley said between fits of laughter, “YOU’RE the boy I like!”

Since his mask was off, Harley actually got to _see_ Peter’s face go through the mental stages of Shock, Realization, and Joy.

“Wha- What? What? What? What?”

“Peter.”

“What?”

“Kiss me.”

“Wha-”

Harley grabbed Peter’s shoulder and pulled him in for a kiss.

_Wow. Wow. WOW. Okay. Focus. Don’t make it too long, Keener. It’s just a first kiss. It’s just a warm bowl of chocolate I want to drown myself-_

Peter pulled away first. “I, um, I’ve wanted to do that for a while.”

Harley grinned. He could feel his eyelids begin to droop. “You’re the man of my dreams, Parker.”

He leaned in for another kiss, but Peter gave him a quizzical look. 

“How did you know?” Peter asked. His lips pouted in the most amazing shape and _Oh my god Keener FOCUS._

“Wait, what do you mean?”

“How did you know you were in my dreams?”

Harley snorted. “Peter you say you’re this pop culture god but you don’t even know the phrase. I said you were the man of _my_ dreams.”

“No shit, Keener. I know the phrase. I’m saying that you’ve been in my dreams.”

“...What?”

“Yeah.”

“You… You’ve been in MY dreams.”

Peter’s eyes grew wide. “WAT.”

“Yeah, I fell down and you offered-”

“To help you up?”

Peter and Harley stare at each other.

“Peter how the HELL did-”

“HARLEY I literally got super spider-powers and you’re asking me how DREAM MAGIC WORKS?”

“Yes. Yes I am. If anything YOU should know more than me.”

“Hah. I hope KAREN recorded that.”

“More than me on THIS ONE TOPIC.”

“Nope, that’s not what you said.

“Peter.”

“Harley.”

They glared at each other for a second, then Peter started laughing.

“Kiss me, Peter.”

“Okay. We should eat these sandwiches too. Not at the same time, though.”

“We can work our way up to doing things with food.”

Peter’s face flashed scarlet and he broke eye contact to grab the sandwiches. He held one out to Harley and kept staring in the basket.

“What? Did Ned make a dessert?”

Peter reached in and pulled out another note. He showed it to Harley. 

“For fuck’s sake you guys. Peter, Harley knows you’re Spider-Man. Harley, Peter likes you too. I’ll be damned if you come off that roof and aren’t dating. -M”

Harley started laughing as Peter sheepishly looked up at him. He started cackling when he saw the back of the note.

“P.S. Harley! Peter! MJ made the sandwiches but I made the cake! Tell us which you like more! (Not that it’s a contest or anything but it totally is) -Ned”

“Harley, come here. I’ve wanted to kiss a smile off your face for the past two months.”

\---  
Story One (High School) - The End  
\---  
\----------------------------------  
I want to thank you all for coming on this journey with me. The MCU Spider-Man has really gone on a roller coaster ride since I started this story back in July. This isn't my last story in the Harley/Peter fandom, but I'm going to have to take a break for a while to plan out my next series. I have a few one-shot ideas that I might have time to write later this fall, but I should have a new full-length college-aged Harley/Peter story right after the New Year.   
<3 you all and long live Parkner.  
-viaticalsauce


End file.
